The Alpha's Prerogative
by taoist elf
Summary: Imprinting, marriage and mating. Duty, choice and need. What do these things have to do with love? In the midst of a failing marriage and strained imprint, Bella is about to find out. It's complicated, when is it ever not? Bella/Sam some Paul. No poly anything.
1. Part 1 - Rain

**Disclaimer: **_All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended._

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**A/N:  
**_I've had this idea for over a year now, but the itch has gotten unbearable. Needing a break from an original project, I thought I'd scratch it and share – maybe someone else will enjoy it too. _

_Or maybe not._

_A warning that this is not my usual fare. __it's not a typical romancey-romance though there will be romantic resolution at the end. At its core, it's a "realistic" tale about a man who's lost his humanity and woman who's lost everything and how they find both together. All while playing with concepts of contracts and wolf social structure, that feral lupine dominion versus socialization and how it might really change man. __As I was writing it, I realized that this __completes the trilogy playing with each of the three most dominant wolves (my faves). _

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**Please read:** DO NOT confuse _any_ of these characters with my other fics. Whether it's the hallmark of complex characterizations or simply psychosis (I'm going with the latter) I have no problem taking a character and developing them in all different kinds of directions. Of special note, this is NOT the Paul of any of my other fics. This is another way that general character could have been developed (and probably, unfortunately, far more realistic). I'll try to leave him a little better at the end.

**Ground rules: **I love Chaske as a person but not necessarily as Sam. In my mind this Sam would be cast as someone like Michael Spears (see icon and/or look him up – he's a beautiful man). Basic twi plot is maintained except that Edward never came back and Sam never imprinted. Everything else is up for grabs. Hold on.

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**This is ROUGH! No prereader or beta (painfully obviously). This is just me sharing playtime with you. **

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**Part 1 - Rain**

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"Bells!"

Bella Lahote readjusted the canvas grocery bag on her shoulder as Jacob Black came striding out of the garage before she'd even set foot on the driveway. Of course. After four and a half years, she was used to lupine senses.

"Hey honey," he bent down and pulled her into one of his magical hugs.

Bella melted into his chest, wrapping one arm around his waist, and let all her worries melt away in the embrace of her best friend. Just for this moment. His heat and scent soothed her like no one else's.

"Hey Bella," that cashmere voice pried her heavy lids up.

Except maybe Embry's. But it made sense; they were half-brothers, after all. She owed them everything - they had tag-teamed being life-ring for her in the turbulence of the last three years.

She was blithely passed from brother to brother and into another embrace that wordlessly let her down easy:

Paul wasn't at the shop.

"How are you, sweetheart?" Embry murmured over her hair.

Bella nodded silently against his chest – it was so much easier to lie without words. The soft thump from the bag of groceries hitting the ground told the truth as loud as thunder: Bella didn't know if she could survive another round of this.

She was so damn tired.

Tired of trying. Tired of trusting. Tired of having her heart broken over and over after the frenetic promises that things would be different this time.

In the distance the thunder tumbled in the late afternoon sky. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to reset before she picked her heavy head up from Embry's chest.

"He's not here," she intoned dully. It was a statement, not a question. Slowly her eyes lifted to that melting chocolate gaze, peering out from under boyish bangs that softened the athleticism of his face and 22 years. At least he finally looked his age.

They all did. Bella's gaze swept out to her best friend, fatigue and latent anger tugging at a face used to its perpetual sunny smile. She chose the easier of the two.

"You look tired, Jake," Bella smiled sadly. "Liam's still not sleeping through the night?" It was his and Malia's second. Four years ago to the day he'd imprinted on Rebecca's husband Kimo's little sister. At Paul and Bella's wedding, no less. Actually there'd been two imprints that day and it was the best wedding present she could have imagined.

Jacob pressed his lips together, refusing to play her usual game of deflection and simply pulled her into his side. "C'mon, let's talk."

Keeping one arm around her, Embry picked up the groceries and, sandwiched between the two brothers, they silently made their way to the garage.

The sky was overcast making it look later than it was. It was only three and Paul usually got off at four so she'd come early to be sure not to make him wait – waiting made him restless. _More_ restless.

Embry's cell went off and he reached in his pocket.

"Hey Angel, how 'you feeling?" Embry murmured. Bella looked up as his face crumpled in a sympathetic grimace.

The second imprint of the day, Angela had first met Embry at Bella's wedding, and the rest was, as they say, history. He and Jake had a wedding a month apart and they were having their families in sync too without even trying.

"I'll be there in a minute, Ange," he soothed and then changed his voice to as stern as Embry every got. "You tell that little man he'd better have it all picked up by the time I get home. Love you."

Bella searched his face intently, trying to find her cue, as he put the phone back in his pocket. He grinned with a comedic roll of eyes and she quickly smiled with him.

"That Cody, man," he huffed. "He threw crayons all over the living room while she was in the bathroom. I think it's the last straw."

"He's just keyed up because Ange is getting so close," Bella empathized as she sat down on the ratty couch.

"Well if he keeps going he's going to make his baby sister come early," Embry smiled, leaning against her truck pulled into the bay for some major engine work. They would have lent her a car, but Bella liked walking.

"I'm sure Ange wouldn't mind," she laughed softly. Angela was in her last two weeks and several miles past miserable. Bella stopped by almost every day to check in on her way home from her work as the Rez high school's only English teacher.

"Let's take the whole damn weekend off, Emb," Jacob chuckled. "I'll just have Joe and Tommy open on Saturday."

"No way they'll be in before noon," Embry snorted. "And they'll be so hung over they-…"

"Emb," Jacob interrupted.

He froze, meeting his brother's eyes with understanding.

Bella's gaze drifted down to her sneakers as she propped her elbows on her knees. Paul had probably gone out with them. It didn't even matter anymore

She heard Embry clear his throat uncomfortably. "I'd better get going."

Bella looked up to a face that was tainted by both chagrin and worry. "It's okay Emb," she gave him an exonerating smile. "Maybe I'll see you guys Saturday?"

"I was going to take Cody down to the beach," he set the grocery bag down. "Give you two some girl time."

"Ange needs some sleep-time," she sniffed with an attempt at a laugh as she sat back and leaned her head against the wall.

"Hey," Jacob cocked his head as his brother crossed the garage for brusque forearm clasp. "Why don't you ask Sam if two of the pups can take our shifts on Saturday night? We should get some new-daddy cred, right?" He twisted the words sarcastically. "Adding to his litter."

There was no love lost between Sam and Jacob Black.

"For real," Embry snorted. Catching himself on the back of the couch, he sloowwwly leaned over Bella with one of his best marshmallow smiles. She grinned at him on the way until her eyes crossed and he pressed a sweet kiss to her forehead.

"Hang in there, sis," he breathed. He pulled back and all humor had peeled back from raw worry.

Watching him over the plane of her cheek, Bella gave him a tight-lipped smile. It was really all she could muster at the moment.

"Okay, later," he waved and then jogged out to his car as another dusky thunder roll percolated in the distance.

Staring at the ceiling, Bella released a long breath through her nose.

Jacob waited silently beside her. He'd always been good like that: patient, sensitive, kind. She was thrilled that he'd abdicated his inherited position. It would have been like trying to stuff the sun into a lightbox to try to cram Jacob into the role of Alpha.

Instead, he'd looked fate in the eye and spat - it was the bravest thing she'd ever seen. Of course it wasn't a popular decision and his father still really hadn't forgiven him for it. But with that ten thousand kilowatt smile he'd just tell her he didn't need to be popular, just _right_ – and this was what was right for him.

And then he'd imprinted.

She'd helped him through it until he could accept that sometimes fate dealt the _right_ hand. Anyone could see Malia was perfect for him: sweet and spunky, she kept him balanced, happy _and_ well-fed (Bella approved). And Malia loved him fiercely.

With the _real_ kind of love.

The Pack learned many things over the years and one of them was that imprinting wasn't exactly the story-book romance that the Council had sold them to seduce hapless victims to happily accept their fate. As time went by it became obvious that it was very much like love for mere mortals - only scripted. In the beginning imprinting was an irresistible mandate – something that stole attention from every waking hour and made for long and lucious nights.

But as time wore on, that new shininess faded and reality crept in. Jobs, patrols, wars, Tribal and family drama and, for many of the Pack, families of their own.

As time wore down that sparkling veneer of obsession, real love had to take its place. True Love - not rosy valentine fluff, but the messy, frightening kind of devotion that got you through the worst of times. Just like regular, garden-variety mortal marriages, when the imprint waned, if true love hadn't been cultivated, then relationships fell apart.

Didn't Bella know it.

She let her head flop to the side. Jacob was perched on the armrest watching her, a worried brow shadowing bloodshot eyes.

"You look like crap." Bella offered him her own tired smile.

He didn't even try to fake one as he slid down onto the cushion beside her. Turning to her, he propped his knee up between them and studied her intensely for a moment. With huffing sigh, a big warm hand – hands that she loved: caring, tender, _careful_ hands – scooped up hers where it lay limply on her thigh.

"Honey," he whispered, slowly lacing his fingers through hers. "It shouldn't be like this."

"Yeah," Bella whispered. "But it _is_, so…" Her eyes rose up to the ceiling she shook her head slowly back and forth against the couch at the insanity of it all. There were no more words, no more excuses, no more plans, hopes, dreams.

Nothing.

So now _she_ felt like nothing - a burnt out shell with nothing but a duty stifling her like a heavy wool cloak every moment of the day. At her job, Pack ceremonies, bonfires, Tribal gatherings, she was Paul's imprint, his wife and mate. She had a scripted role to play.

Even if Paul didn't play his part.

"Was he supposed to meet you here?" Jacob murmured, a quiver to his voice like a taut bow.

"Yeah." Bella laughed bitterly. "You know what today is."

Jacob squeezed her hand – he never forgot the anniversary of his imprint. Bella never forgot her wedding day… sometimes she wished she could.

"He left half an hour ago," he whispered.

Bella picked her head up. "I thought he got off at four," she gasped, overstated distress widening her eyes. This was her fault?

"Shh," Jacob soothed with a frown, his gaze washing over her face. "He didn't tell you?"

Bella pulled her lip into her mouth, hating that tears were burning her eyes. She tried so hard to please him.

"I told them on Wednesday," he said gently over the bucking rage in his eyes. Her best friend was the only one who never showed her that pity that she detested. "That I was letting them out around two today."

Bella bit her lip harder while he held her gaze meaningfully: he wouldn't say it out loud. He and Malia were celebrating. Traitor tears welled up with a toxic burn while her nostrils flared against the sting.

"C'mere honey," Jacob crooned and pulled her into his chest.

Bella disintegrated in his arms. For minutes or hours she let her sorrow leak out in a muted trickle, gasping at air through the suffocating pressure of so much more that wanted to come out.

Jacob drew her into his lap and held her. Like he always did.

Finally, when enough was released that she could slam the hatch back closed, she picked her head up and impatiently slapped at the streaks down her face. It was the warpaint in the war of these last few years.

"I can't do it anymore," she whispered.

Jacob smoothed her hair back from her face as he nodded soberly. "What do you want me to do, Bella?"

He so rarely used her name that her eyes snapped into focus in the fire: he'd help her even if it meant taking on Sam and his rightful role. Jacob had a peaceful heart, but he'd always fight for family –though she knew it would not only break his spirit, but his body too to even try. Sam had gotten stronger.

She smiled sadly as her hand molded to his cheek with all the love left in her mangled heart. "Jake, this isn't your battle," she murmured. "You have Malia and the kids. I'll be alright. I've just got to figure out what to do."

This had been her mantra through these last two years when it had finally sunk in that Paul was getting worse, not better.

Jacob was a true friend because he respected her words. Respected her boundaries. He didn't try to convince her differently, didn't nose in or go behind her back. He supported her, even in her mistakes. He'd even hired Paul when the construction company finally fired him for the last fight (he was a hard worker as long as no one tripped that hair-trigger rage). Bella thought it was also to keep an eye on him but Jacob denied it every time. He barely spoke to Paul but he didn't touch him either and that right there showed Bella some serious love.

That, and the fact that Jacob never told Charlie. None of them did.

She could certainly leave – she'd tried it out once – but had only lasted two weeks at her mother's. The imprint had made her heart ache, but far worse than that was the dagger twisting in her soul: she'd missed the kids at the school, the Pack, the Rez… her home.

She just didn't know what to do with herself in the big wide world anymore. Bella had always been the type to dream of growing roots anyway, especially since any fledgling foundation had been ripped out from under her every two years like clockwork until she'd moved to Forks.

All she wanted was peace and love. A family. A home. A little wooden house – it was her favorite Coldplay song. She'd been so needy, in fact, that she'd fallen into the arms of the first man to offer her security and a leech, for crissakes!

It had taken months for the thrall to wear off…eventually it had, but not the scars. Now Bella was afraid of the world.

But here she was safe. She had a place, a family. She couldn't imagine living in some flat heartless "human city" where she had to start over again. She might not have money or freedom or the man that she wanted, but here was where her soul was home.

"Come home with me tonight, Bells," Jacob whispered.

Bella blinked back into the present, her gaze cutting over to where he was watching her with anguish in his eyes. It wasn't right. None of it. This was a happy day for him and here she was bringing him down.

Again.

"No, Jake," she murmured, leaning in and place a grateful kiss on his cheek. "I need some time to think. And I figure I've got…" she tapped a finger against her lips while her eyes swept up comically. "Probably the whole weekend to do just that." She gave him her best smile.

Jacob closed his eyes as he drew in a breath and released it in a long steady stream of defeat.

"Seriously," she patted his shoulder as she slipped off his lap. "If I'm really going to leave him, I have to get used to being by myself, right?" she asked pertly.

Jacob blinked twice – disbelief melting into a tenuous hope. She'd never said that out loud before.

"You're not alone, honey," he murmured, standing with a worried frown. "You have us, your family, your Pack."

Bella nodded brusquely wiping her fingers under her eyes as another round of thunder tumbled from the sky. "I know," she agreed quietly. "And I can't leave the Rez." She paused at a thought and looked up at him sharply. "They won't make me leave, right?"

"No way!" He gave her a grin that a little too feral to be funny. "Even if I have to kick that bastard's ass."

"Which one?" Bella arched a brow, towing him back to human shores with a gentle smile.

"Both of them," Jacob growled swooping her up into a hug. He now had what could be called a "quietly strained" relationship with his father …and he all-out hated Sam.

His tickles dislodged some giggles and they bounced around the garage with the first taps of rain on the roof.

"Let me close up and I'll drive you home," he blew raspberry kisses on her cheek as he set her down.

"Nuh-uh," she shook her head. "I want to walk – clear my head." It was summer, less than a mile away and Bella loved walking in the rain. Especially in shorts.

"Sure?" he arched a dubious brow.

"Sure-sure," she quipped and leaned in for another hug. Then she turned and hauled her grocery bag up on her shoulder. "It's not heavy," she groaned with a roll of her eyes at his mother-hen concern. It was just a few last things she'd picked up for the dinner she'd planned and breakfast in the morning… with Paul.

Jacob trailed after her to the door of the garage. The sky was heavy, but it was only sprinkling enough to see in lingering puddles.

"Have fun tonight! " she called over her shoulder. "Give love to Mal!"

Jacob's somber stare told her she'd faked just a little too much cheer, but let her off with a raised hand anyway. She could feel his eyes watching her until she turned the bend. Jacob had always watched over her.

The first night, almost three years ago, Jacob had come over to Bella and Paul's house at midnight to her frightened call – even though Malia was sick from her pregnancy at the time. Paul hadn't come home and she was going out of her mind with worry.

Bella had slept with him on the couch draped over Jacob's chest and counting his heartbeats with the hours that ticked by.

The next morning, he was talking to Malia on his cell over breakfast when Paul stumbled in – disheveled and plastered off his ass. Only God-knows how much he drank – but she would later guess by the balance of their bank account.

Jacob had taken one look at him and the cell had shattered his hand. It was the most frightening transformation she'd ever seen (even though he'd stayed in his skin): her easy going friend throwing himself across the room in a blind rage, foaming at the mouth. He tore into Paul with such savagery that Bella hadn't thought twice.

She'd called Sam. It was the first time, but not the last.

Paul was the best fighter in the Pack – it was true and the source of much swagger – but that morning Jacob Black had almost literally handed him his ass on a platter before their Alpha finally arrived.

With thunder in his voice, Sam had broken up the fight. Then, with his usual stoic intensity, he'd picked up Paul's broken body, looked her straight in the eye and promptly left the house with her husband in his arms and not another word. All through the day, an unusually somber Pack filed through her living room fixing things and bringing her a new couch while Angela and Malia sat at her side.

But the house and her husband weren't the only things that broke that day. Paul came back home that night- all healed except for a limp - and threw himself at her feet.

And then proceeded to break her heart.

He'd cheated on her, as Jacob had scented. Actually, more than once that night. And he begged and groveled and swore on everything in the world that he'd never ever do it again.

Until the next time.

The second time she called, Malia had just given birth so Embry came over to sit sentry at her side. In the morning, like clockwork, Paul strode in and Embry dragged him back out. Their fight tore apart her lawn until their Alpha pulled a poor battered Embry free. Paul _was_ the best fighter, especially sober. Which he had been this time.

After that, Bella stopped calling.

It became a ritual, every few months Paul would come home pleading and trashed …or sober as the day is long. It didn't seem to matter – something much deeper was broken.

Then came her favorite part: Bella would have a few weeks of flowers and sweetness, gentle hands and a man she could love - a glimpse of what a shattered Paul looked like whole. Somehow, she was always able to forgive.

But slowly he'd slip back into someone with a rough touch, dark moods and darker smirks. He'd grow restless and tough, stomping away anytime she tried to reach in. Bella finally began to realize he craved numbing, not nurturance… and nurturance was all that she had to give.

The imprint was still there but now it felt like a shackle. _"You're just a fucking ball and chain!"_ he'd yelled at her one night.

"_That chains you to life when you're freaking self destructing?!"_ she'd screamed back and lost yet another couch. Thankfully, he'd never laid those hands on her in anger. They were rough enough at other times.

Bella loved him – she really did. She hoped time would heal the wounds buried deep under childhood scars. Because she certainly hadn't…. and lord, how she'd tried. She could feel it in her heart: this heaviness, this pining ache of a soul ripped in half. She loved him and deep down, she knew he loved her too.

But it just wasn't enough when he didn't love himself.

The sky let loose then and cool redemptive rain washed away fruitless despair. Bella blinked up into the sky as a deep soothing thunder broke over her head and rolled some of the tension from her spine. Arms spread wide, she spun around as she laughed – at nothing and everything at the same time.

It was all that was left to do.

She skipped and twirled and ran. Jumping into puddles like a little girl as rain poured over her, soaking her hair, clothes, groceries.

Bella didn't care.

God, she couldn't remember the last time she'd felt this free.

Catching herself against a tree, she was panting from exertion, a smile still on her lips when she looked up and saw where she was.

Bella liked to walk through the forests, houses sprinkled here and there on this far edge of town. But she could count several times over the years that she'd look up and see that her feet had somehow brought her here.

Sam Uley's house.

He'd been Leah's boyfriend before his change and was now a carpenter by trade along with their Alpha, but that's about all she knew. It's about all any of them did. At 6'6 he was a giant among giants but he moved, quick and agile like an animal in a very unsettling way. Always dark and intense, with a stony face and razor eyes, he never wasted a frivolous word. He ran his Pack with an iron fist doling out commands and punishments wrapped in a thunder bass that sent shivers down any spine that heard it.

Bella could count times she'd spoken to him on one hand. There were several nights early on when she'd called him, gasping and sobbing into the phone when Paul had gotten into yet another a fight.

And that was it. He never socialized, never hung out with the Pack, never bothered with pleasantries after meetings.

Except there was that one time at Jacob's house.

Malia had just given birth to the Pack's first cub and they were all gathered and joyous while Jacob passed out cigars. But when that celebration was abruptly choked into silence and every lupine head turned, the girls had scurried to their mates' sides because it could only mean one thing: their Alpha had arrived.

Sam had strode into the house with that hunting cat gait and every eye hit the floor and head bowed.

Except for one.

Jacob stood behind where Malia sat in the easy chair with their infant, grinding his cigar in an undisguised grimace. As usual, Sam ignored him. Tall and proud, he stalked to the newborn's side. To the stunned silence of the room, he went down on one knee in front of Malia and then placed a huge hand over the child's head. After murmuring something in Quileute that she didn't understand he then promptly stood with no more than a curt "congratulations" before turning on his heel.

But on his way back out of the house he'd paused in front of where Bella was trying to hide behind the couch. Her lowered gaze crept up in utter confusion. She still remembered every second of what came next:

"Do you like children." he asked in an terse monotone, more like an order than anything else.

Bella swallowed, fighting to make her mouth work under that intimidating stare. "Yes," she whispered and then bit the corner of her lip. His eyes darted down to her mouth for a moment then back up to her eyes. With the subtlest flare of his nostrils, he'd turned abruptly and strode out of the house.

It was odd, but that was Sam. No one ever dared question anything he did.

Later she would realize he was probably fishing for why she and Paul were waiting – they'd gotten married second after Jared after all who was weeks from welcoming his own first.

But it was only in the Pack with the almighty mating bond that couples started families in their early twenties. If anyone else asked, she told them she dealt with 87 kids at work every day so she could afford to wait a little longer and they never blinked an eye. But the Pack never had to ask, they knew: Paul didn't want kids. _Yet,_ Bella would always add.

What was she going to do?

With a huffing sigh, she looked up ahead at the house staring back at her through the trees. Pushing off the trunk she squeegeed the water from her face and hiked the bag up higher on her shoulder. Another lightning flash heralded a cracking rumble as she slowly made her way down the dirt road. She'd just walk on by.

Tucked away in this corner of the forest, his place wasn't the usual clapboard, it was an old wooden house he'd inherited from someone down the line. With two stories and a big wrap-around porch-...

Bella blinked through the rain at the figure sitting on the top step.

Like he was waiting.

Elbows propped on his thighs, Sam Uley had his head bowed, over a knife shaving little curls of wood from a carving dangling between his knees.

Bella pushed her sopping hair back as she took a step closer. Then another and another, not really understanding why. The storm was getting bad, and she was now two miles from home, but _that's_ not what pulled her down the driveway toward an enigmatic man and his house in the woods on the edge of town.

It was him. He was magnetic, always had been.

Bella had snuck glances at him from her under her dutifully bowed head every chance she'd gotten over the years, curiosity trying to deconstruct what drove this man. And now, whether her sanity had finally snapped its tether or she just didn't care anymore, she was brazenly drinking in her fill while she had the chance.

Yet this man was nothing like the Sam she was used to. In fact, were it not for his signature square jaw and immutable dominion – and the fact he was sitting on his own freaking porch – Bella might not have recognized him.

He was the only one of the Pack who didn't cut his hair – a symbol of power and position - but this was the first time she'd seen it unbound. Shining ebony spilled past those ridiculously broad shoulders and over a loose white shirt that was rolled up his sinewy forearms highlight his toffee skin. Knees were splayed open with a kind of masculine confidence and well-worn jeans hugged muscular legs down to bare feet. She'd only ever seen him bare-chested in cut-offs, hair pulled tightly back in a braid, and something about seeing him like this softened some those hard intimidating lines.

And made him sorta… beautiful.

Bella's uncertain swallow crinkled in the back of her throat as she stopped at the foot of his stairs. She knew he had probably heard her coming a mile away, yet he hadn't so much as glanced up from his carving. So she watched him for a moment: one hand holding the wood in a steadfast grip and the other dancing with a knife, lithe and fluent.

Another angry flash of lightning whipped the sky, buffeting thunder hot on its heels and Bella wiped the pouring rain from her face as she set her jaw with resolve.

"It's raining," she stated the obvious in a clear voice.

His hand finally stilled and she heard him heave a sigh over the rain sluicing off the eves. Then slowly Sam raised his head until his eyes slipped up from under his lashes.

They snapped to hers like a magnet, locked and loaded.

Bella took an inadvertent step back as she blinked rapidly and fought the instinct to tuck her chin.

"Come," he murmured.

And he stood abruptly and turned toward the door.

Bella hesitated only a moment before she started climbing the wooden steps. Once she was on the porch and finally out of the rain, she realized just how sopping wet she was.

"Ugh," she wrinkled her nose as she pushed her soaking hair behind each ear and hiked her soaked groceries up on her shoulder.

Ahead, the door had been left open and another roll of thunder gently pushed her toward it. She paused at the jam, peering into the stillness inside.

It was quiet with dark hardwood floors that ran into the room beyond. Bella looked down at her soaked self in dismay. Setting the dripping bag down, she struggled to pull off the first muddy chuck, hopping on one foot and catching herself clumsily on the doorframe with her usual grace. Leaning against it, she pulled off the other.

She batted uselessly at the mud splatters climbing her leg. At least she was wearing shorts – soaked jeans would have been uncomfortable. Now barefoot, she glanced down at the bag leaching water around it in a pool and decided not to add more insult to the shiny hardwood floors.

She paused, gathering courage. None of the Pack had been to his house which was another source of distrust: of all of them he had a house that could actually accommodate their ranks, now at 14, not counting mates and kids.

Drawing in a deep breath, Bella held it as she took a tentative step over the threshold and then froze right inside. Nothing: it seemed anticlimactic. She didn't know what she'd expected – lightning to strike? Sam to rip her head off?

With a humorless laugh, she squared her shoulders. If the Alpha did take off her head, it would solve all of her problems.

She strode uneasily into a large open living room with a high ceiling. It was almost serene – two large couches and an easy chair were set around a stone fireplace whose glowing embers were winking and popping. It smelled good: fire and male and the green forest outside.

At the soft tonal clanging of metal, Bella blinked from her curious scan of pictures on the mantle and looked toward the sound. It was coming from an open doorway on the far side of the room.

Gathering her courage, she put one foot in front of the other, passing a hallway and set of ascending stairs. She paused in the entryway, catching herself against the molding.

A huge rustic kitchen, the length of the entire house lay ahead of her, its ceiling vaulting up past exposed beams to the roof. The lights were off and the stormy light from outside filtered in on tiptoes, making it feel dreamy and quiet.

Peaceful.

She smiled softly as she pushed off the door and took a step onto the linoleum. The kitchen had used to be her favorite room but somewhere over the last few years her hobby had lost its appeal.

A long heavy table with benches on either side ran almost the length of the room. Her eyes swept along wooden cabinets, a large sink, and more counter space than she'd ever dreamed of to where Sam had his back to her as he put a kettle on the blue flame of a stove. Bella pressed her lips together in jealousy: it had eight burners – eight! – and shining copper pots and pans hanging from a rack overhead. She blinked back from kitchen envy at movement.

Sam crossed the room and set two mugs at the far end of the table with a clack. He looked up with those intense, unreadable eyes.

Bella wrapped her arms around her middle. "You cook?" she asked awkwardly, trying to force a little smile. At least she'd have something to talk to him about.

"No," he said simply and then started prowling toward her across the room.

Instinct dropped an adrenaline bomb and heat raced through her veins at the mere sight of her Alpha stalking her with predatory eyes. Every cell screamed at her to flee, but she knew better than to run from a wolf. She'd been warned but had never understood until she'd tried it one night with Paul.

But she simply couldn't stand to watch him approach. Tucking her chin, she snapped her eyes shut and her fingers dug into her sides.

And she waited.

The touch of heated skin made a little shriek burst free.

"Shh," a soothing velvet croon wound around her as a calloused hand slipped to cup her jaw. "You're safe," he whispered over her head.

Bella drew in an open mouth breath that hitched, as fight-or-flight adrenaline instantly evaporated. Some of the Pack might hate him, but even his worst enemies knew that any word he uttered was a blood oath.

His hand stayed at her jaw for a moment, big and warm, while his thumb brushed over her cheek like a whisper.

And then he was gone.

Bella's entire body rebelled. She whipped around to see him striding through the door to the living room without a backward glance.

Bella swallowed thickly. Sam Uley had _touched_ her.

The understanding of what they were as Wolves had deepened over time. Now everyone of the Pack -mates included - had made peace with the facts of Pack life: there was not a shred of privacy with lupine senses; vying for dominance would sometimes ruin parties; and there was lots and lots of touching. It was something the beast longed for and the man needed now to stay human.

But if _Sam_ touched anyone, he was either welcoming them into the world, saving their life, or threatening to take them out of it.

Shaking her head to clear it, Bella turned back to the kitchen. In her awed inventory she'd wandered to side of the table and laid out before her was his carving knife and an intricate shape of wood where it must have been left.

Curiosity tugged her forward.

Propping one knee on the bench, her fingers reached out to what looked like a section of molding. A little over a foot long, it was a piece of dark mahogany shaped almost like the front of a crown. Carved front and center, a fierce wolf stared back at her with determined heat as if it were guarding over the intricate design that seemed like it was surfacing from the grain, it was so organic and free. Her fingers brushed over leaves, animals and blossoms that seemed to frolic off into the grain to either side of the wolf.

It was magnificent – at once beautiful and wild.

She glanced over her shoulder to see if he was coming back and nearly jumped out of her skin.

Sam was standing silently behind her. With a sharp intake of breath she snatched her had back and turned around with chagrin heating her cheeks. She didn't know why, but she felt like she'd been caught prying into something very personal.

Sam continued to stare down at her with that broad stern mouth.

"Um," Bella bit her lip as her hand twisted nervously in her wet flannel shirt. "It's really amazing," she told him earnestly. Because it was.

That double blink was the most emotion she'd ever seen on his face and she didn't have a clue what was behind it: annoyance, surprise, pleasure?

She didn't get a chance to guess – Sam's hand raised brusquely, offering out a snow-white towel dangling from his fist.

Bella shifted and took a step closer, reaching out with tentative fingers. "Thanks," she whispered as she pulled it from his hand.

Or tried to.

He held it fast and Bella's eyes darted up in confusion to find him watching her with hematite eyes. Perplexed, she dropped her hand to her side, embarrassed that she'd done something wrong.

Sam's eyes did a circuit of her face and then he reached slowly across the distance as if giving her time to object. Bella's eyes widened as she realized his intention.

Biting her lip and winding her arms safely around her middle, she dipped her chin.

At her wordless assent, he brought the soft towel to her cheek. His eyes slid to the work of his hand as he gently brushed away the moisture along her jaw, then over her brow and down the other side.

Bella was too shocked to know what the hell to think so she just stood immaculately still while he dabbed that towel over her face like she was made of glass. His eyes intently followed in its wake as if they were memorizing every pore.

When he paused and lowered himself to one knee, Bella was so surprised she took a step back.

His other hand reached out almost absently and brought her closer again. She could feel the warmth of his hand through the cloth as he stroked the towel slowly over her hair like a caress.

Bella set aside the strangeness of the situation because he was almost eye level now, and she was instantly too fascinated to care. She'd never seen him like this before.

Sam had the high cheekbones of his people and a proud brow that also looked somehow tender close-up. Narrow eyes that were a little too feral to be fully human chased his hand as he worked with that signature intensity. But yet she'd never noticed the way sensitivity lurked in those shadows before. His nose was a little more aquiline than Jacob's but it complimented his broad somber lips and strong jaw perfectly. His face was handsome, regal, fierce... and suffering.

A strand of that sleek ebony hair had fallen over his cheek giving it just enough softness that Bella found herself fighting the impulse to reach out and tuck it behind his ear. Her heart always had a hard time watching people suffer – yet she'd spent the last four and half years watching a man self-destruct.

Sam seemed immune to her study of him, or simply didn't care, as he caught a runaway rivulet down her racing pulse and then swept the towel over the hollow of her throat. He then threw the towel over his shoulder.

Bella stiffened, trying to figure out what was coming next. Without a glance into her eyes, both hands came up to her flannel and started slipping free the three buttons.

Taken aback, she tried to shuffle away but he caught her in her shirt and pulled her close again. Bella's heart lunged into a sprint as she frantically searched his face for clues.

His hands calmly undid the buttons to reveal her tank top and then his eyes slowly raised to meet hers.

Bella's breath caught in her throat. They were complex and luminous with lupine power… yet also the most human she'd ever seen.

"I'll never force you," he whispered.

That phrase had many meanings but right now its inference was painfully clear. Bella stared back at him in disbelief- surely she didn't understand.

His eyes paced between hers for a moment and then returned to peeling the flannel from her shoulders with hands that were firm but careful.

Bella stiffly submitted as he pulled her shirt off and let it drop to the floor.

Pulling the towel from his shoulder, he neither reassured nor explained as he sopped up the water and chill bumps that raced over her skin. He let his hands speak for themselves: calm, steady, gentle.

She saw his eyes wander over her chest and her nipples rose proudly to meet them and a blush rushed up her neck to beat in her cheeks. But his eyes didn't vulgarly linger, they washed over her breasts with the same intensity that they did every inch of her body.

All the while his hands continued their hypnotic ministrations down her arms, over her shoulders, along her sides.

Bella stared down at him in shock, but her body was soaking up his touch like a sponge. A different sort of heat was seeping through her veins, making her feel dizzy. Paul hadn't touched her like this in so long - had he ever? These days it was just the rough, brusque touch choreographed by his need.

"Do you know why you're here, Bella?" Sam whispered in voice cut from dusky felt.

And Bella's mouth popped open automatically to answer. Until she realized she didn't have a clue.

"I called you," he murmured while he watched his hands wrap the towel around her thigh. His touch was soft, intimate, yet had completely avoided any violation. "I've been calling you for a while," he smoothed the towel down her leg and then ran it over her toes. It really did nothing for the mud and her legs were already dry… suddenly she realized this had nothing to do with drying.

It had everything to do with touch.

"A long while," he breathed, pulling the terry cloth down the other leg, the warmth from his hands seeping through and leaving chill bumps in their wake.

Sam looked up at her with eyes that were coal still. "I knew you'd come when it was time." With that, he stood up.

Slack-jawed, Bella's face tipped up automatically with him.

His eyes washed over her face and his lips softened with the subtlest curve as his careful hands urged her around. Bella was too numb to protest, her mind was stuck in neutral and doing donuts.

Sam Uley had _called her_?

"Why?" She flinched at the sound of her own voice.

He didn't answer her, but deliberate hands gathered her hair in the towel and squeezed the moisture from it, tugging gently on the roots in way that made her eyes roll in her head and care less about the question.

He released her hair and then brushed the water droplets from her shoulders while Bella tried to climb out of the gutter. Her mind fishtailed back on the road of conjecture as she frantically tried to figure out what was going on.

The kettle's whistle suddenly pierced the quiet kitchen, shrilly climbing the walls. Sam threw the towel onto the bench and strode calmly across the room.

Bella turned around numbly and watched him lift it off the blue fire. Taking a resetting breath, she combed her fingers through her tousled hair. She should feel more unsettled than she was: their reclusive Alpha had just surveyed every last inch of her body under the guise of drying her off. But even stranger than that, it had been soothing – the slow rhythmic caress of soft cloth, the heat from his hand seeping through to her skin... it had felt almost caring.

Turning from the counter, Sam's eyes flicked up and met hers as he strode across the floor with that fluid but assertive stride that always communicated immutable dominion. It didn't seem possible that he wasn't born to be what he was – over the years he'd grown into a leader that even the arrogant council feared.

Jacob could do anything he set his mind to, but if he'd had to take this role, Bella shuddered to think what it would have done to that warm heart. Throughout all the drama of old men, tantruming fathers, and her struggling best friend, Sam had stood silent yet indomitable on the sidelines and watched like the Angel of Death just waiting for his cue.

All while he waged war with vampire armies, navigated the complexities of new wolves and secrets, and held the young Pack together with steadfast reins when they would have fallen into chaos.

Sam stopped at the foot of the table and threw down a trivet and then set the kettle on it. A subtle tip of his chin toward the place at the corner had her feet moving before she'd processed the request. The Pack was always in tune with what their leader requested which made it so Sam rarely had to use that iron fist, and Bella was Pack after all. At least for the moment.

She made her way along the long wooden table while curious eyes watched him set a plastic cone on one of the cups and pour water into it. She'd seen these one-cup coffee filters before, but never anyone use one. But then, other than her dad (who was living with Sue Clearwater now), she hadn't known anyone who lived alone.

Because, since Edward had abandoned her in the woods (the best thing to happen in her life to date), Bella had spent most of her time on the Rez. First with Jacob and dirt bikes and waning thrall, then through supernatural revelations, vampire wars, and a volatile head-spinning romance. All the way to the first apartment of her own with a husband - not a roommate - at the tender age of twenty.

It had been a crazy five years but one she surprisingly wouldn't change because she loved her home no matter how she got here. But there was one thing about it (and it was probably her singularly favorite thing): life on the Rez was all about family and Pack.

No one she knew lived alone.

Except Sam Uley.

Bella wiped her hands on her shorts as she slid onto the bench across from where the man in question was watching the water level slowly drop in the filter with emotionless eyes. He poured another measure into the top as Bella propped uneasy elbows on the table and listened to the tinkling water fall into ceramic while steam lazily rose in counterpoint.

The coffee smelled wonderful – earthy and chocolate and the perfect addition to the stickiness of a stormy late-summer afternoon. Outside the rain had slowed to a shower that whispered soothingly through the screens of the open kitchen windows and brought in the smell of trees and wild.

Bella wondered what it must be like to live out here in this big house by himself and lead a Pack that was submissive and respectful because he'd earned it, but didn't like him in any way. Other than Leah's covert animosity from mysterious events long ago, it was nothing he'd done that Bella could fathom… other than make necessary but unpopular decisions and slap them down when they got out of hand (like her husband). Paul was always testing boundaries and Sam was always cinching them tighter as a result, but as far as Bella could see that's what they all did. It was part of the lupine instinct to challenge and Bella thought if they hadn't had his reins, they might have torn each other to shreds long ago. It seemed most of their resentment stemmed from the fact that they didn't understand him.

Sam seemed to want to keep it that way.

With lightning reflexes, he switched cups under the filter without spilling a drop and then poured more water into the top. Instinct made her look up from her thoughts to find Sam watching her with eyes as still as midnight.

Leaning on the table, Bella's hands wrapped around each arm to buff the chills from her skin and she hunched her shoulders uncomfortably to her ears. His gaze did a crisp efficient circuit of her body language and then turned away from the table.

The sound of his resonant bass made Bella jump. "You know that Alpha's don't imprint."

Bella nodded automatically even though his back was turned as he strode toward the refrigerator.

"But do you know why?" he pulled open the door and took out a carton of cream. Here he paused, glancing over his shoulder with a raise of his brow.

Realizing she was supposed to answer this time, she sat up a little straighter and cleared her throat. "Um, because…" Bella ventured. "Because they can't be distracted from leading?"

Sam nodded curtly and then crossed back to the counter.

She'd thought about it before in her consideration of their enigmatic leader – in all these years if he'd ever taken a lover, no one knew about it. It was a source of snide innuendo and some of her husband's crassest jokes.

But it did make sense that an Alpha wouldn't imprint because the first year or so was insanely obsessive – even longer for others who actually cultivated their bond. That imperative to get together was nearly impossible to resist which – as the biologist in her figured – was the point.

Yet magic might find the perfect mate, but heart had to accept it, then soul had to do the work.

"But there's another reason," he continued, walking back toward her. He kept his eyes carefully trained on the coffee on the table as he approached and set down a sugar dish and the cream.

"Like imprinting, it's an instinct that hasn't kept up with the times," he hissed, a subtle bitterness sharpening the words.

Bella's eyes snapped up to his face to find the source, but, as usual, it was the same wooden mask. Sam didn't look up as he carefully spooned out three measures of sugar into the mug.

"In our past, marriage was a duty to the tribe," he said quietly over the soft clink of metal on ceramic as he stirred. "So, back then, imprinting was a precious gift from the Spirit in recompense for our fate."

He looked up from under his lashes at her. "In other unions, love was a luxury that was earned over time." A brow jumped subtly. "If ever."

Bella shifted on her seat and hugged herself tighter.

He opened up the new cream with the soft rip of paper and poured it into the coffee and, Bella barely breathed, afraid to break the spell while she waited for more. She had no idea why he was telling her this, but she was too enthralled to wonder.

This was the most she'd ever heard Sam Uley speak.

"So an Alpha can mark a mate, but we don't imprint," he murmured as he slowly stirred the coffee to the perfect café au lait. He tapped the spoon on the side and set it on the table.

"Because, technically," he slid the mug toward her. "All females in the Pack already belong to him."

Finally her brain kicked in and Bella froze with her hand poised to pull it toward her. Her eyes darted up to his dispassionate stare - maybe she'd misheard him.

Sam pushed the cup more into her hand and then casually returning to pouring the water into the filter. Bella's blood ran cold as more and more pieces started clicking together.

"There was an archaic tradition that was practiced as late as Ephraim's Pack," his smooth creamy bass couldn't soften the inference. "At its kindest, it's perhaps an instinct to scatter the seed of the most powerful male with the gene," he murmured as he dispassionately watched the water drain through the filter and then patiently poured in more.

"Ephraim took a wife in keeping with the human traditions of the time," he sniffed a dark laugh and then his eyes rose slowly to meet her own. "But, like the wolves, it's the Alpha's prerogative to mate with any female in his Pack."

It felt like Bella's heart had dropped clear down to her toes but somehow it was also beating furiously in her cheeks. Her numb hand pulled the mug in front of her and held on for dear life.

His gaze slipped back down to the filter as he picked it up and watched the coffee drizzle into drips into the cup.

"Ephraim used that privilege - as those of his line have also done," he bit out like he was crunching broken glass. "Back in the days when it was allowed, some took them as wives- Taha Aki had three," he murmured under his breath.

He glanced up at her briefly with assessing eyes. "Though it looks like Billy Black is the last to have inherited this weakness."

Bella quickly picked up her mug and took a gulping swallow, trying to push the knot down her throat as she watched him cross the kitchen to the sink, palm cupped under the filter.

Her gaze snapped down to the coffee in her hand; it was exactly how she liked it – creamy and sweet. Her mind was desperately trying to stay focused in the moment, terrified to take one step down the road of what was coming next.

"That is why there are so many of us," Sam's sonorous voice rose to the rafters. "Over time there have been indiscretions that have passed on the gene."

The sound of the faucet made her look up to where he was glancing over his shoulder at her while he rinsed his hands in the sink.

"Ephraim had a son and a bastard daughter," he jerked the faucet closed and turned around. "I inherited the gene from my mother."

As comprehension finally strung all the pieces together, Bella's eyes ballooned with all the implications. Suddenly so much made sense: why he'd been first, why he seemed born to the job, the tension on the council, Billy's anger, Embry and the twins and the others of the Pack who were a surprise when they phased.

And Sam had been stuck trying to hold it all together. Alone. His mother had passed, he didn't know his father...

Bella looked up from where her eyes had unfocused in her mug. Sam was contemplating her with his signature stoicism as he strolled slowly back to the table. As usual, there was no expression on his face, but behind his eyes churned a tempest.

With that innate grace that defied his size, he slipped onto the bench opposite her. "Jacob doesn't know that I'm his cousin," he stated evenly, pulling the mug of black coffee toward him.

Bella blinked. He was filling in blanks she hadn't thought about yet and it was comforting that this wasn't the reason he hated Sam. She was sure if Jacob knew, he'd be on his side like he had been with Embry.

"Why don't you tell him?" she rasped, her voice fallow. She cleared her throat.

"Because it doesn't matter," he replied, taking a sip of coffee.

Bella's brow knit in dismay. So many secrets! All hell had broken loose when it came to light that Embry was Jacob's brother. After that, and the drama of Jacob stepping down, maybe Sam was right that the Pack couldn't deal with any more strain on its ties.

"And it might make this more complicated," he murmured.

Bella looked up again to find Sam watching her intently – he was always watching. She sat up straighter with a brave tip of chin while she kept a death-grip on her coffee. Whatever was going on – whatever he had to say to her - she wasn't going let him intimidate her, she'd had enough of that with Paul.

Outside the rain was coming down in buckets again, thundering against the roof and throwing handfuls against the windows like rice. Yet inside, the silence was so thick and expectant that it could be eaten with a spoon.

Those intense dark eyes bored silently into her soul for an outrageously long minute until Bella thought she'd die if she didn't squirm.

Finally, Sam tipped his head and his eyes did a restless circuit of her face before returning to her own.

"Bella," he whispered in an inky bass. "I want you to have my child."

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_*chuckles softly* Review if you like._


	2. Part II - Reins

Thank you for the feedback. It really helps with motivation even with play... but then you know that. ;-)

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Like all my stuff, it's meant to be read carefully for the experience and emotion, rather than skimmed for plot, but I offer this up to you to do with as you will. Written quick and dirty (no pun intended), I request a blanket absolution for typos and general stupidity.

For any music folks, this chapter is all Portishead. "Undenied" and "It could be sweet" respectively.

,

As always, thanks for reading and hope you enjoy.

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* * *

**Part 2 - Reins**

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_'_

_I want you to have my child._

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It took a while for those words to filter through the thrum of blood in her ears.

While Bella's eyes ballooned in shock, Sam lifted the mug to his lips and took a leisurely sip of coffee as if he were merely waiting to see if she'd lend him her car.

Like she'd fallen down a rabbit hole, she felt like she was standing at the bottom of a well. The sound of the storm, the cool wood of the bench, the chill of her damp hair – everything disappeared.

Except for the man staring back at her across the table.

Lowering the mug, he swallowed his coffee and then set it down with a soft clack that echoed like a thunder clap in hollow of her ear.

It finally brought her around. "What?" Bella croaked, her hands snapping to the table in a feckless attempt to keep the world from spinning.

Sam cocked his head with a little sniff and no trace of emotion whatsoever. His eyes did a brief inventory of her face.

"You heard me," he murmured.

Bella blinked once. Twice. Hell, _three freaking times_.

She wanted to jump off the bench and make a run for the door – to flee the confusion, the insanity, the utter cave-man absurdity.

Or perhaps worse… the way those words - in that voice - made her body tingle.

But she'd never make it: this was their Alpha.

The man sitting calmly across from her was the ruthless predator she'd heard stories of in war, the one they said never showed an ounce of human emotion and was more animal than man, their compassionless leader who she'd _seen_ dole out callous punishment, never a second chance.

Bella felt like a mouse trapped in a cobra's sights, pinned by that still, dark stare. Lounging across the table and idly fingering his mug, his body language was deceptively nonchalant, but she'd seen him switch on a dime with the abrupt unpredictability of an animal that scared the crap out of them all. Even at rest his body seemed ready to spring for the throat in the next heartbeat.

Bella gulped down a squirting swallow as her hands gripped the table so hard her fingernails bent against the finished wood.

Whether it ended up killing her or not, she didn't think she could sit still - a mere lunge away from this man who wanted what he did from her. Slowly she started inching her legs toward the end of the bench.

Sam cocked his head, a crisp, feral movement, and watched her with that stoic stare. "You're mine to take as I want," he informed her quietly. "But I'm giving you a choice."

_A choice… that was good, right? _

Her brain felt lethargic. She was beyond all reason she was so shocked. All she knew was that she had to get away. She slipped one leg over the edge of the bench and lowered it incrementally to the floor.

"I could Order you," Sam was saying in that bass monotone. "Or force you."

Both feet were on the ground now and she started pulling her upper body incrementally across the table.

"But I won't be like those before me – no better than a leech," he bit out with a flash of vicious canines that made her freeze.

She blinked at him like a deer caught on the wrong end of a rifle.

Sam took another unhurried sip of his coffee while he stared right on back.

The tension was pressurizing all the combustible emotion that had been shoved down all these years.

She couldn't stand it.

She burst up to her feet and away from the table, stumbling back several steps before gaining her balance. Wild eyes watched for his reaction.

Sam set his coffee on the table with a soft sigh. And then unfolded from his seat so fluidly it was like he'd congealed to his feet.

Pupils contracting in fear, Bella scampered backwards as he strode toward her with that smooth stride. But then he simply rounded the table to stalk its length. Bella watched him go in confusion.

"What was the first thing I told you?" he announced to the room in a resonant bass as he headed toward the door.

_That she was safe._

Bella realized she was panting from the wind-sprints her heart was doing in her chest. She closed her eyes and listened to her rasping breath as she tried to get her bearings.

But then instinct quickly snapped them back open.

Sam was pacing back along the table with her bag of groceries dangling from one hand. His eyes had been watching her, but they quickly darted off to the corner of the kitchen.

Ever in tune with her Alpha, her head jerked around to see the refrigerator and realized he was simply focused on his destination.

Her head whipped back around as he neared and she scrambled backward until she bumped into the cabinet.

Sam ignored her as he passed by. He stopped on the other side of the table beside the refrigerator and set the bag on the counter. One by one, he pulled the items from the sopping canvas. And then walked along the counter to the sink.

Bella wrapped her arms tightly around herself and shuffled along cupboards until she found the far corner of the room. Her bloated dial-tone mind watched him snatch a towel from the rack over the sink and return to where her groceries were laid out on the counter.

She pulled her lip into her mouth as she pressed herself in to the comforting corner.

Through the bank of windows on the far wall, a storm-choked dusk had sucked enough light from the room that the refrigerator scattered light across the floor when he opened it. Wiping off the block of cheese, he set it inside, followed by fresh bagged basil that he shook dry – she'd bought it for the chicken marinating at home. Next came the eggs – he wiped it dry with patient hands. Thank goodness they'd been packed in Styrofoam, otherwise the carton would have fallen apart in the water.

Bella chewed on her lip as slowly these kind of mundane, everyday thoughts coaxed her cowering sanity back to the forefront of her brain.

He'd said she was safe - he wouldn't hurt her – and he wasn't going to force her either. Even though she knew he could do so easily with his position; the order worked on all Pack, mates included. None on the council would dare reprimand him and her father had no jurisdiction on the Rez (and he was afraid of Sam too).

No, he was giving her a choice.

A choice about having his baby.

She shuddered as she watched Sam wipe off the slab of bacon and put it in the refrigerator. Bacon was Paul's favorite and he loved it when she'd put the grease in the biscuit batter.

Bella stopped herself right there.

The huge man across the room who was putting her groceries away in his refrigerator…the one with ebony hair falling over a loose cotton shirt straining against broad shoulders and tucked into battered jeans. The man whose movements were calm, centered, fluid…

That man wasn't Paul.

It was then that Bella realized that while the proposition was certainly dumbfounding enough, it was _this_ that was driving her melt-down:

The thought of _actually leaving_ Paul.

Such plans were a lot less intimidating in the theoretical - over the years that fantasy had grown roots that were deep. But here was an actual opportunity to do just that and it brought out just how afraid of change she really was. And how terrified she was of making the wrong choices yet again.

She didn't trust herself anymore.

Bella had claimed she'd stayed with Paul out of duty – and that was partially true – but more than that she'd stayed out of fear. She _knew_ what to expect of Paul. In some ways leaving behind four and a half years and dynamic she'd grown used to was even more terrifying than the thought of carrying the Alpha's child.

"What about Paul?" Bella's mouth asked the question way before she was ready.

Sam didn't even turn from where he was rinsing out the bag in the sink.

"What about him?" he asked, his bass slipping under the sounds of rain with ease, like he was _truly_ asking.

Bella frowned, pushing out of her corner. "He's my _husband_."

He yanked the faucet closed and turned around to face her. "He's my Pack," he stated simply.

Her hands slowly unwound from her middle as incredulity started fanning a defensive temper. "You think he's just going to…" she laughed sarcastically. _"Share me?"_

"Yes."

Bella's stress escaped in a high maniacal laugh. "You don't know-.."

Sam interrupted. "Or I'll kill him," he stated evenly. Every word was a blood oath with Sam Uley.

Bella's mouth popped open in a cross of disbelief and disgust. "You'll _kill him_?!"

Sam's face was stone cold sober. "Yes," he avowed, and then turned back to the sink and picked up the rinsed canvas bag.

"I've been wanting to kill him for a while," he murmured as he wrung it out with twists of his arms that made his muscles bulge down his back.

Bella nibbled on her lip as she crossed her arms over her chest – she didn't even know where the hell to start with this.

"But I don't share," Sam crooned, velvet wrapped in heat as he turned around. He shook the bag out with a wet snap that cracked like a whip. "Here are your options," he calmly hung it up on a hook over the sink and then turned to face her.

Leaning back against the counter, he propped both hands behind him and bent one knee with the open body language of absolute confidence.

"You can stay with Paul," he began in that flat emotionless bass that trolled the deep. "You can leave him and live with your father. Or," his brow raised minutely. "You can stay with me and carry my child."

Bella stared at him, eyes narrowing as her temper stoked fire in her gut. "You're _blackmailing_ me?" she hissed.

"No," he replied evenly.

He was infuriating with these one-word answers. "If I leave him I have to _live off the Rez_?" she accused.

"Think it through, Bella," Sam's voice dipped low in that way that made a person want to instantly lie down and surrender.

Bella wouldn't do it. "I have," she bit back even though it was a boldfaced lie.

Sam didn't call her on it, he just continued hammering out reality in words that were like nails in a coffin.

"In one way or another, Paul will come after you," he said carefully. "Jacob and Embry – all your closest friends - have families. I won't allow my cubs to be in the middle of this."

Bella blinked in surprise; she didn't want the kids in the middle of it either. None of them. He was right, she hadn't thought things through…

But, obviously, he had.

"You are still Pack, but until things resolve, you need to stay elsewhere," he continued in that compelling croon. "My wolves cannot be divided right now. If the Denali coven retaliates for the kill last month, I need Paul on my front line."

"Oh, his head's really going to be in the game when his wife's the Alpha's concubine," she laughed caustically, crossing her arms over her chest again.

Sam cocked his head. "Fulfilling this need outweighs the tactical disadvantage."

"What _need_?" Bella coughed in disgust, her arms jettisoning to her sides. "The need to _knock-up_ somebody else's imprint?"

His eyes flashed briefly like lightning at midnight as his face calcified into stone-cold severe.

Bella's mouth went dry; she'd over-stepped her bounds.

Sam slowly licked his lips and her fingernails dug into the heels of her hand. "Everything I do," he bit out each word succinctly. "Is for the needs of my Pack."

Bella gathered her courage as she wrapped her arms around her middle. "You said **I **was Pack," she countered quietly. "What about me?"

The first shadow of any expression she'd seen flitted across his face to be lost to that stoic mask. His voice was soft, but each word taut and exaggerated like he was speaking to a child.

"_I'm trying to help you." _

Bella's eyes paced back and forth between his for a moment. The pressure began to build as her mind furiously put it all together.

And it hurt – she'd thought at least she was wanted.

"_Now I get it_," bitterness stretched the words like taffy as her hands slipped down to her sides. "It's an _honor thing_. You figure since no one else wants me, you'll give me a place to stay," she sneered as a long-kindled firestorm roared to life in her chest.

"And let me._ Earn. My. Keep_." she spat, clenching her fists. "Well what happens after I've given you your puppy, huh?" she stomped forward with reckless abandon.

"Are you going to throw me away too?" she laughed hysterically as she shoved her hands back through her hair. "Or keep me on to give you a litter. Maybe the Pack needs a freaking nanny?!" she braced her hands on the table and leaned over with it with rabid hate. "Or are you just going to screw your way through each imprint like a breeding harem?!"

Her shriek shattered on the rafters and trickled down over the room in the ashes of dead silence. Slowly the red haze receded enough that the sound of her heaving breath seeped through… then the feel of the table under her hands… the sound of the rain outside … the hulking man only a room's width apart...

Her Alpha.

His face completely unreadable, Sam still hadn't moved a muscle from where he was leaned with deceptive ease against the sink.

But now, he pushed off the counter with that savage grace. Inscrutable black eyes locked with hers, he took a step and then another with that powerful mercury stride.

Bella's stomach dropped like lead, bringing all the blood in her face with it.

_What had she done?_

She shoved off the table as he prowled toward her with razor intensity, lupine power crackling around him like sparks. His eyes ignited and flared lambent gold and Bella stumbled backward.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it," she rambled quickly, backing up from his approach. "Please, I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry… I'll do what you w-want. I-…" This was so much like that night with Paul all over again.

Sam put his hand on the table and vaulted effortlessly over it, his big body landing like a throw of silk.

"Oh, God," she gasped in terror, scrambling back until she hit the corner again. Trapped just like she had been…

"Please!" she shrieked. Tucking her chin, her fists squeezed up to rigid shoulders and her eyes clenched closed…

At first she thought that soft inhuman rumble was the last lupine snarl she'd ever hear, but in another heartbeat it had started wrapping her in warmth. It wound around her frenetic heartbeat, swaddling her in calm, speaking a language of comfort so primal that only instinct understood.

Still she flinched at the touch of warm fingers caressing as light as a breeze over her cheek. She shuddered and chills raced over her skin like rain.

Those hands patiently worked their way between her fists and jaw until they cradled it gently.

"Bella."

That deep whisper wove into the wordless lupine croon. It called to her and she submitted to the gentle pressure of those big hands.

Caring, tender, _careful_ hands. They reminded her of Jake's.

She blinked her eyes open to the sight of Sam Uley, squatting in front of her and peering up at her with a furrowed brow.

The soft purr dissipated as he looked deeply into one eye and then the other. "I'm not Paul," he whispered, like satin over velour. "I'm not my uncle or grandfather either."

Bella swallowed thickly as her hands slowly relaxed back to her side. His thumb brushed over her cheek and she was horrified that it caught a tear.

"And I never break my word," he breathed, his nostrils flaring briefly.

Then he stood, towering over her once again.

Tipping her head up in his hands, his eyes did a lazy circuit of her face and then his mouth ticked up on one side.

"It's been a long time since I've seen that fire," he murmured. One hand lingered on her cheek for only a second longer, then he turned away.

Bella drew in a deep shaking breath and pressed her palms over her face, trying to reset. She was a mess – she didn't know _which_ way was up.

Slapping her hands down to her side, she looked up to where Sam was lounging on the bench on this side of the table. Elbows propped behind him, his legs were splayed open with that natural cocksure brass.

Waiting.

Heaving another breath through her nose, she wrapped her arms around her middle and took a few steps away from the wall. "I'll go home and think about it," she sighed.

Sam surprised her with a slow shake of his head.

"No?" she gaped.

"No," he replied calmly. "You're spending the weekend here."

Bella balked at him with open-mouth indignation. "Why!"

It looked like Sam's lips twitched, but she probably imagined it. He didn't answer her of course.

"Other than that, you have the reins," he crooned in that double-shot espresso bass.

"But that's the problem," she complained, her brow furrowing as she took another step toward him. "I've _never_ had them. I need freedom – time to be on my own."

Black eyes rooted in hers, Sam shook his head again.

Bella was just drawing in the breath to rebut, when he beat her to it.

"You need a home," he murmured. "And a place to heal."

It took the wind right out of her sails because it was true. Bella didn't like lying to anyone, but especially herself. Huffing a sigh, she crossed her arms over her chest, and turned her back on him.

"You tried leaving once," he added.

Bella whirled around on him. How did he know that? She'd even told Jake she was just visiting her mother – which was technically true, but she hadn't planned on coming back. Secrets were hard to keep in the Pack.

Sam tipped his head and this time his mouth most definitely kicked up on one side. "You like it here."

Bella scowled to cover her discomfiture. "So you're just …" she scrunched up her nose. "It's just-… just a pity thing?"

"I don't pity," he said flatly.

"They _why_?" she pled with her eyes. "Is it duty? Is it because -…"

"That doesn't concern you," he sat up, unequivocally closing the subject for question. "All you need to know is I'm offering you an arrangement," he said crisply, leaning over his thighs.

"You live under this roof but choose where you sleep. What's mine is yours to leave or take. The house, kitchen, garden -you can do with them as you will. We live side by side or separate. You can work, not work… none of it matters."

Bella rolled her lips with an uncomfortable swallow. "As long as I have your child," she whispered.

Sam nodded curtly and then sat back against the table, spreading his arms out on either side.

"Just one?" she asked quietly.

His brow subtly raised. "Up to you."

Bella's brow furrowed as she hugged herself and paced toward the windows. She had to pass within feet of where he was splayed across the bench and she could feel her skin tingle.

Sam kept his eyes trained ahead.

"What happens after that?" she whispered to the falling dusk, knowing he could hear her. The storm had passed, leaving only weeping rain.

"After what?" his voice was just as soft but pitched for her human ear.

Bella ran her hand along the counter and then leaned over it, resting both elbows on the granite as she peered out into the woods behind the house.

The eerie light of twilight made the world outside look as much like a dream as it felt in that moment. The yard was large enough for good use, but small enough to make it feel intimate with the green, green forest huddled around it.

Perfect for children.

"After I have your baby," she breathed.

Just her tongue trying on the words made her insides twist in a humiliating way. Her mind tried to dismiss it as the time of the month.

"Whatever you wish," he announced quietly. "The child will grow up here – you can stay as well ...or leave and share custody. As the mother of my child, your place in the Pack will be respected," he paused and she heard him lick his lips in the silence.

He'd obviously thought all of this through, but that was his job, wasn't it?

"He will be raised in our traditions, knowing his heritage… knowing his father."

"His?" she craned over her shoulder. Sam was still sitting in the exact same position. She wished she could see his face – but then again, his expression never changed.

"The firstborn of a phased Alpha is always a boy."

Bella nodded to nothing in particular, and turned back to the window. She heaved a long sigh.

"I don't need an answer now," he informed her bureaucratically.

Bella pushed off the counter and turned around. Sam was as still as statue, facing the other side of the room.

Rubbing her arms against the chill – her hair still wasn't dry – she slowly walked back toward him.

It _was_ a practical arrangement, she'd give him that, and Bella had always been a practical girl. Arranged marriages were the norm up until a few generations ago weren't they? It seemed to have worked out some way or another for thousands of years.

But Bella had always wanted more.

She didn't care about money, or status or anything else… all she had wanted in a relationship was to be wanted.

But, truthfully, she was starting to give up on love. From a controlling leech boyfriend who tried to suck out her soul to a damaged shapeshifter who was imploding and taking her straight down to hell with him. Each attempt to find it had just left her scarred and broken.

Would it work better this way? Would Sam Uley be different?

At least he was (painfully) up front about what he wanted and he was clearly outlining what she'd receive in return. The security, stability, the Pack… _a home_… it might be the best she could get.

She stopped at the end of the bench. Lounging indolently against the table with his face tipped up slightly, his eyes were closed like he was meditating. He had a strong profile and features that were 200 percent male contrasting deliciously with the long dark hair spilling over brawny shoulders. He was strikingly handsome – Bella had always thought so.

She took another step toward him, as quietly as she could. Would it be so bad? A marriage of convenience to this man?

Except… Bella was already married.

"I don't want Paul to get hurt," she whispered.

In the dimming light, not a muscle twitched on Sam's face. "He's going to get hurt if you leave him," he murmured low.

Again, the truth.

Whether she went and lived with her dad or moved away or stayed with Sam, he was going to get hurt. But having to watch her as his Alpha's… whatever she would be. Would he ever get over it?

She took another step closer until she was right at the end of the bench, only a foot away from where his hand was resting on the table. She could tell he worked with them by trade: his fingers were strong, the nails short and uneven from hard work.

"And he deserves it."

Bella blinked up to where Sam was watching her out of the corner of his eye. "You tried and he hurt you," he intoned like he was reading a page from the dictionary. "More than once."

"He's struggling!" she quickly jumped in. "It breaks my heart - if you knew what happened when he was a child-…"

"No excuse," he snipped off her habitual defense with a flash of feral canines and terse words. "A man must accept his failure without excuses!"

Bella's gaze fell to the bench between them as she pulled the corner of her lip into her mouth and chewed on it thoughtfully. It sounded like he was speaking from experience – an experience that ate at him still.

When she looked back up he was stoically staring straight ahead again.

"I don't want you to kill him," she whispered. "No matter what."

She watched Sam's adam's apple bob with his swallow, then he shifted on the seat. The movement was startling in contrast to his stony face.

Finally, he gave her a single brusque nod.

Bella's eyes studied him, still and silent in the waning light. Sam didn't so much as glance her way.

Was this really something she would consider? A contractual agreement that bartered for safety and security with her body? Women had been doing that since the beginning of time hadn't they?

She sniffed a bitter laugh.

Rubbing her arms against the falling chill, she edged her way toward him until she intersected his gaze.

His eyes snapped into focus in hers .

"I'll think about it," she whispered.

Sam's detached gaze wandered over her face, as if looking for all the little things she didn't say .

He gave her a curt nod and then stood.

Bella stumbled back a few steps as he congealed to his towering 6'6". Sam ignored her and strode toward the end of the room.

Nonplussed, she watched him go. With a flick of a switch on the wall by the door, he turned on lights that must be set on top of the beams – they illuminated the vaulted ceiling.

He paused halfway out the door. "You're cold," he stated in that bass that seemed too remote to be making a personal observation. "Come sit by the fire."

Then he disappeared from the kitchen.

Bella huffed a sigh as she followed after him, her eyes sweeping the room. The kitchen was beautiful lit like this. Dim and atmospheric, the lights in the vaulted ceiling were dramatic. It would be perfect for dinner parties… or Pack.

With one last glance at the room, Bella turned, shaking her head at herself. She was already trying to imagine what life would be like if she lived here. But she supposed that was the point of making her stay the weekend - Sam Uley had always been clever.

She made her way to the living room which was lit only by the flames Sam was nursing at the end of the room. Squatting in front of the hearth, he was stirring embers and easing in logs while the fire complained with snapping crackles.

As the warmth reached across the distance, Bella realized she _was_ cold. Scouring the chills from her arms with brusque palms, she allowed the heat to pull her closer.

Having finished with his ministrations, Sam stood and turned to where she was shyly approaching. He watched her for a heartbeat and then took a seat on one of the two large couches angled around the hearth.

With just a glance over her shoulder, Bella took his place and kneeled beside the dancing flames, warming her hands. The heat felt good on her face and the scent reminded her of the beach Bonfires of happier days.

There had been happy days.

Now the only ones she had were when she was vicariously living through others: Jacob and Malia's loving relationship and beautiful children. The way Embry and her best friend Angela completed each other's sentences and so equitably shared their load. Painting Jared and Kim's new house, Brady's boyfriend and mate being welcomed to the Pack, watching Quil and Claire's relationship finally blossom. Maybe that's one of the reasons she loved it here so much: it gave her a life.

Bella had always wanted one of her own.

But she was so used to living for others: a flaky, alcoholic mom who she had to parent. A needy father who'd never gotten over the abandonment. A self-absorbed blood-sucker who wanted a trophy, an angry shapshifter who alternately tried to control or destroy his life and everything in it, just so he didn't have to lose it.

Her giving nature seemed to attract them all like flies. _Use me_: she'd looked in the mirror many a time thinking it must be tattooed on her forehead.

With a sigh, she glanced behind her, but after staring into the fire, she couldn't make out anything but Sam's looming shape in the darkness. She took a step back and slowly stretched out, tummy-down, on the thick rug facing the hearth. With a flinch of pain at the bruise on her hipbone, she gingerly rearranged herself and propped her chin in her hands as she gazed into the hypnotic flames.

For a long, long time.

The fire had burned through gluttony and was now stumbling over the blackened remnants of its heyday when Bella finally turned over her shoulder to see if her Alpha was still there.

Again, she could only see his silhouette against the light coming from the kitchen, huge and silent. She turned back to the fireplace.

"What will they say?" she asked quietly. She realized that she'd been using the future tense for a while in their conversation, not the conditional.

"It doesn't concern me," he dismissed in a silky bass that seemed to slither from the dark.

His voice was so soothing, she would have thought he was lacing it with his power if she didn't know what it felt like already. When Victoria had attacked with that army of Newborns, he'd Ordered her to stay at Jacob's house along with the other imprints– somehow he must have known that she'd secretly planned to give herself up to protect her Pack.

The fire popped and sparkled in front of her and she returned her head to her hands.

"Your position as Alpha's mate will be respected by Council and Pack alike."

"Your mate?" she breathed, her brow furrowing as she craned over her shoulder.

When she was answered by silence, Bella sat up and turned around.

He was lounging on the couch much the same as he had at the table with that cultivated unconcern.

He regarded her for a moment and then sat up, cracking his neck. "I'm not like those before me."

Bella frowned as she wrapped her arms around her knees.

"I'll only father children on one woman." He rolled his shoulders and then flicked his hair brusquely over them, fixing her with emotionless eyes.

Bella sniffed and rested her chin on her knees while she brazenly studied him, trying to decipher what was going on behind that mask. Flickering light from the fire sketched his face in harsh lines and gave his eyes a callous glint. Sitting erect with shoulders back, massive body at attention, he looked like he was in the starting blocks for a fight to the death.

And he looked lethal.

She'd known him as long as Paul – longer if she counted that delirious night he'd found her in the woods. He'd changed over these years and she'd come to fear him like they all did. But she still remembered that day when she was young and naïve and didn't know about monsters and magic and just how cruel life could be.

When Jacob had first phased and abandoned her, she'd stomped across his lawn and fearlessly demanded that Sam set him free. She'd even _shoved_ him(he had budged about as much as brick wall on both accounts).

But in those days Sam seemed much more human; he'd merely cocked his head down at her with a blackstrap molasses smile that looked delicious poured over all that intensity.

She would do anything to see that smile now, but at the time it had been infuriating. She didn't even get a chance to tell him so before all hell had broken loose with Paul.

_Paul._

What was she going to do about Paul?

She lifted her head and pressed her fingers to each fire-heated cheek as her mind spun.

There was no reason she had to decide anything right now… or anytime soon. She was feeling that innate pressure to give her leader an answer because he wanted one, but with such a monumental question, their almighty Alpha would just have to wait.

With a huff, she let her hands fall from her face and pushed up to her feet. "Can I borrow your shower?" she asked with a rebellious lift of her chin. She needed some time to herself to wash away all the confusion.

That shadowy figure tipped his head to the side. Then it was rising up to condense into a hulking mass. Bella took an inadvertent step back.

"Come." Sam vaulted over the couch and strode into the darkness.

Exasperated, Bella's gaze followed him for a moment while she rubbed her palms on her still-damp cut-offs. Then she hustled across the room after him.

He didn't wait but silently ascended the stairs.

Blinking as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she followed hesitantly after, one step at a time as she tried to peer up into the gloom at what was coming next. A diffuse light came on up ahead and Bella quickened her step.

The stairway led up to a hall that ran the length of the house. At the end of it, a doorway spilled light over a carpet runner that covered the hardwood floor. Bella wrapped her arms around her middle and tried to cage her shivers. It was unnerving to be alone at night with a strange man in a house she'd never been to in her life.

Drawing in a deep breath, she peeked into the room to find Sam staring out the window set in the far wall with hands clasped behind his back.

The bedroom was a nice size for these old houses, but still cozy with one wall that sloped with the roof. It was lit by the soft glow of a single lamp and sparsely decorated like the downstairs: its centerpiece was a large bed made of cherry wood and designed with clean lines that were complimented by natural-colored sheets. There was a matching dresser in the corner, two small night stands – one with the lamp sitting on it - and a wooden rocking chair set in the window nook.

And that was it.

Bella took in the new surroundings with nervous eyes. It looked too nice to be a guest room, but there were no personal effects on the dresser or bed stands.

"This can be your room, if you'd like," Sam spoke quietly out the window.

Bella blinked back to the present. "For this weekend," she corrected him.

Sam looked over his shoulder and fixed her with those unnerving eyes for several of her stuttering heartbeats before he turned around and started toward her.

Instinct told her to lower her gaze, so Bella lifted her chin instead. She was not going to be forced into making hasty decisions.

Sam cocked his head, perhaps reading that on her face, as he unerringly prowled toward her.

Bella stood her ground and he didn't pause, passing by her so close that his arm brushed her shoulder. Like he was testing her.

"There are towels in the bathroom," he murmured from behind her.

Bella turned over her shoulder just in time to see him shut the door quietly.

Alone was a glorious place to be.

Releasing an audible sigh of relief, her shoulders finally lost the battle and bowed under all that was weighing them down. Slapping her palms to her face, she rubbed briskly and then let her hands plummet back to her side as she did another sweep of the room.

It was a peaceful space. With bare walls, classic lines, and colors of cherry and cream, it was unobtrusive enough to provide a comfortable stage for anything.

With another resetting huff, she turned toward the only door that was ajar. The other two must be closets, she mused as she crossed the hardwood to the bathroom and turned the light on.

Again the room was neat and tidy. It looked like had been renovated in the last few years, but it still had the original tile and claw tub from the house's era. Shutting the door behind her, she made her way across the green and white tiles. Again no personal things cluttered the shelves or sink – only a wrapped plain bar of soap and shampoo sat neatly at the foot of the tub with a set of fresh towels hanging from a rack above it.

Pushing back the shower curtain, she decided to take a bath and plonked the rubber stopper in place. While the water jangled into tub, she sat down beside it on the toilet lid to wait while her mind dogpaddled furiously, trying to keep afloat. From the heartbreak of preparing to leave a man she thought she'd be with forever to contemplating a future with one she didn't know, Bella was drowning in overwhelm.

Right now, what she needed to do was soak it all away.

She did so, taking her sweet time and the first bath for as long as she could remember. Paul always complained about how long she took in the bathroom and she hadn't realized how much she'd internalized the need to rush. But here soaking in the quiet swaying water while gazing out the dark window and watching the rain race down the pane, she could wash away those memories too.

Once she'd finished, she dried off and wrapped a towel over her breasts. Opening the cabinet behind the mirror all she found was a brush and a razor and not much else. The brush didn't have any hairs in the bristles so she figured it was up for grabs.

Closing the door, she watched herself in the mirror while she began to brush through her wet hair. Those brown eyes looked lost and her face thin and tired - not like a woman on the cusp of her vibrant prime. Whether or not she took Sam's offer, Bella decided was going to change that.

Her shorts were still damp and the tank top stiff from the rain so she decided to forgo them for the moment. As long as she was alone - she cracked the door and peeked into the room. The door to the hallway was still closed and with a little smile of relief she stepped out of the bathroom feeling refreshed.

The room was quiet and calm but outside another storm was rolling through as they often did on the threshold of cooler weather. Bella pulled her hair over her shoulder and drew the bristles tranquilly through the mahogany strands while she wandered to the bed. Paul liked it long so she'd grown it out and it was now curling past her elbow.

Right now she felt like cutting it into a chin-length bob.

Thunder rumbled in the distance and the rain blew in a spattering surge against the window making this room feel like a delicious haven. Bella actually liked the rain – it was moody and atmospheric and perfect for reading. If only she knew she were going to be incarcerated for the weekend, she'd have brought a book. She'd have no trouble passing these two days sitting in the rocking-…

It was then she saw him.

Sam's big body was dwarfing the chair and silently rocking back and forth while he stared out the window.

The brush fell to her side with annoyance. "What are you doing here?" she demanded hotly. He was ruining her vibe.

Sam turned over his shoulder with a raised brow.

And then Bella remembered who he was. She pressed her lips together in chagrin, feeling the heat charge to her cheeks.

His lips softened infinitesimally as he stood, absently catching the back of the rocker so it didn't bump against the wall. Ducking under the eve of the nook, he stepped into the room, unreadable eyes locked with hers.

Even though the towel hung below her knees, she still felt exposed. Bella crossed her arms over her breasts.

"It's my room," he informed her.

"I thought you said it was _mine_ for the weekend," she ventured.

Those somber lips spread in an irrefutable and wry smile that took her off guard. "It is," he crooned. "Do you want me to leave?"

Bella blinked rapidly, trying to find her balance. "Y-you shouldn't have to give up your r-room," she stammered, backtracking in her confusion. "There's not another?"

Sam clasped his hands before him, that disconcerting expression still on his face. "You asked to borrow _my_ shower," his eyes darted to the bathroom and he tipped his chin meaningfully.

Bella gaped at him in disbelief. She didn't know whether to laugh or scold or worry that he'd just proved she was far out of her depth.

But worse yet, she'd been assuming he'd been being straight up all this time and this little ruse felt like betrayal. Just when she'd thought maybe she'd left that behind.

Her eyes fell to the floor, pulling her chin down with it. "See, I don't know if I can trust you," she whispered earnestly. She just didn't have the strength for this.

Lightning flashed outside, illuminating the bedroom like a strobe before thunder shattered night. Bella pulled her lip into her mouth while her eyes irrationally burned.

Bare feet stepped in her field of vision and she felt his unnatural heat radiate over the bare skin of her arms and shoulders.

"Scent me," he whispered.

"What?" Bella looked up with a frown.

Sam's eyes were bottomless - the cloudless sky at midnight. That novel smile had evaporated from a somber brow. "Sometimes words mean nothing," he breathed and opened his hands to each side. "Scent me."

She studied him for a moment – making sure he was serious. Then, licking her lips, she took a timid step toward him. She was used the importance of scent to wolves, but she'd never been asked to use her human nose like this. She took another step until she was close enough that she'd have to tip her head all the way up to see his face.

Sam held immaculately still. She only came up to his shoulder and was eye level with his chest and the triangle of caramel skin reveal by three undone buttons. She leaned in and sniffed delicately.

_Oh God_, he smelled good. Earthy and settled and male.

Like a chemical reaction, his scent soothed her nerves and some of the tension shuttled down her spine. She leaned closer, tipping her face up to where his pulse jumped in the hollow of his throat. She drew in another breath through both nose and mouth, savoring him over her tongue. It felt like she'd been injected with a sedative; suddenly she just wanted to collapse against his chest and wind her arms around him.

The only other scent that did this was Jacob's.

But Sam smelled very different from Jacob Black.

"Mm," an unconscious hum slipped over her lips as she siphoned more of the comfort from his skin.

"What does your instinct say?" Sam breathed in a voice of warm cocoa by her ear. "Can you trust me?"

Bella blinked out of that heady thrall and pulled back, tipping her head up with heavy-lidded eyes. She felt drunk. "Are you using-…"

He stopped her with a slow shake of his head.

Bella tried to squint through the rapids as that scent towed her out into a riptide of hormones.

Sam's lips curved softly and his fingers brushed down her arm to her hand. He gently pried the brush from her nerveless fingers and then urged her around.

"I promised I wouldn't use force or magic," he murmured as he gathered her hair off her shoulders.

Bella suddenly remembered she was dressed in only a towel and wrapped her arms securely over her breasts.

He drew the brush through her hair for several unhurried strokes and then she felt his warm breath spill over her neck.

"But I didn't say anything about playing fair," he whispered in her ear.

Eyes blinking wide with understanding, she tried to turn but a heavy hand held her fast. Her heart was just climbing into the sprinter's blocks when he pulled the brush languidly through her hair again.

"Shh," he soothed, stroking through her hair with his fingers after. The feel of his nails over her scalp made her eyes swim in her head.

"I'm a man," he murmured in that hypnotic bass. "And a wolf."

His fingers crept from her shoulder up to the side of her neck. Then he leaned down on the other side and inhaled, pointed and deep, from the hollow behind her ear.

Chill bumps spilled over her skin.

"And you're fertile right now," he breathed over her pulse, his breath moist and hot. "I'll use any trick in the book to get you in my bedroom."

Bella closed her eyes as he brushed his nose back and forth over her bare shoulder. She happened to know she was - and she also knew they could smell it. Because it was the only time Paul was religious about using protection… or he spent the night in someone else's bed.

She felt Sam straighten behind her and the brush resumed its mesmerizing strokes. There was a little voice in mind that wanted to stomp away and cry foul, but it was very hard to listen to it when he made her feel like this.

He groomed her with a palpable attention, a patience, care. She wondered if it had anything to do with him being a wolf. The brushing stopped then and she wanted to cry out in protest.

"But now that you're here," he said quietly.

She turned to see him crossing to the nightstand.

"You have the reins," he set the brush down carefully on the table and idly traced the handle with his finger. "I keep my word."

Bella drew her lip into her mouth and bit hard, trying to rouse any semblance of sanity whatsoever. "Can I leave?"

Sam's fingers stilled, and then he turned around and regarded her with silent eyes.

Shifting her weight to one foot, she bit her lip harder.

Nodding once, his hands came up to his shirt.

Bella's eyes snapped to where his long fingers were fluently releasing buttons down his front. She couldn't seem to look away.

Mesmerized, she watched him jerk the shirt out of his jeans and finish them off before peeling it lazily off over bulky shoulders and down muscular arms. His chest flexed and swam with the motion, rippling down into that sea of taut abs.

Heat charged through her veins and instantly liquefied her insides, the runoff pooling between her legs. The imprint prickled like pins and needles in her heart.

Straightening, Sam let the shirt fall from his hand to the floor as he drew his shoulders back. "There's another bedroom down the hall," he said quietly. "The light's on."

She looked up from pretty much shamelessly ogling his body to that completely neutral face.

"Good night," he announced and then turned and pulled the sheets down over the bed.

Bella watched him sit on the bed and swing his legs up, pointedly ignoring her.

With a little rousing shake of her head, she crossed uncomfortably to the bathroom. In the safe haven of tile and remnant steam she took a deep breath before she stooped to pick up her clothes. She was being dismissed and given her freedom. Why didn't she want to take it and run?

The light turned off in the bedroom and she didn't know what the hell to do. Clutching the clothes tightly to her chest, she flicked off the bathroom light and slipped back into the bedroom. In the dark, the only thing she could see was the light from the hall pouring under the door.

Pressing her lips together, she felt her way toward it.

Her hand found the cool metal knob and paused. Then she opened the door.

Light spilled into the room and Bella couldn't resist glancing over her shoulder at where it illuminated Sam lying on his side, back to her and half under the covers. His skin looked dark and rich against the sheets and something deep inside her made her want to crawl into bed and burrow into his side where she'd be safe.

Where that touch could comfort her, keep her warm, and make it so she didn't feel so alone.

She felt so alone right now.

The last time she had felt this way, he'd been there too. Sam had found her in the woods all those years ago and saved her from herself after her first relationship had fallen apart…and here he was doing the same thing all over again. Whether by duty or pity or something else, he hadn't left her.

In the opposite corner, tugging against her, she could feel the subtle tightness in her chest pulling her down the hall to the empty spare room. The imprint was always there, just below the surface.

She hated it.

Pressing her lips together for a moment, Bella closed the door and leaned her forehead against it for several breaths, feeling the way the warm air ricocheted off the wood and over her cheeks.

Then she turned back to the anonymous darkness.

Lightning jackknifed through the room, flashing a brief image of Sam sitting on the edge of the bed.

Watching her.

Bella dropped the bundle of clothes to the floor as she took her first step toward him, pulling against the shackle that chained her soul against its will. Here, she could make a choice.

Thunder tumbled over the house like a summer swell as she put one foot in front of the other, marching toward where Sam's silhouette was just becoming visible as her paltry human sight adjusted. All while she strained against that frayed cord that bound her to someone she'd never wanted to be.

She stopped inches from his knees.

His long arm reached over and switched on the lamp and she closed her eyes as the room was flooded with soft light. He wouldn't let her lose herself in oblivion.

She opened them again to Sam's dark eyes focused deeply in hers. Bella licked her lips and then blinked slowly with her thick swallow.

"You want me to have your child?" she breathed, barely audible above the rain tapping with nervous fingers at the window.

Sam's face was a reticent mask. "I want you."

Bella's hands came up to the towel at her breast.

"Yes," she whispered.

Then she untucked the end and let it slither over her bare skin to the floor.

The slightest crease jumped between Sam's brows and he tipped his head minutely, eyes washing over her face as if trying to read her thoughts.

Like it was in slow motion, his hand lifted and he brushed his knuckles over her cheek.

That intense stare didn't wander lecherously down her nude body, it stayed buried deeply in her eyes. But it didn't even matter anymore. She wasn't was some innocent little virgin - always chasing distraction Paul had taken her in nearly every position and place that he could imagine.

Sam didn't say a word, but just traced an index finger languidly over her jaw. He found her jackrabbit pulse and followed it to her collarbone. Then his hands both slipped up to her shoulders and urged her back a step as he stood.

Those fingers calmly undid each button of his jeans, then he shucked them down his muscular thighs and stepped out of each leg. Sitting down on the bed, he looked back up, straightening until he flicked his hair over squared shoulders, inviting her appraisal.

Bella's eyes flitted over his powerful torso down to sturdy thighs, knees casually splayed apart. He was fully aroused and stood impressive and proud.

Her body reacted with hunger at the same time a sharp tinge jerked at her heart like something had been tugged from the quick. Her hand snapped up to her chest as she squeezed her eyes closed over the pain.

A large hand engulfed her own. "Does it hurt?" he whispered.

Bella looked up into his eyes and nodded silently.

His eyes paced between hers for a moment, and then down to where his palm covered her fist on her heart. His hand smoothed carefully over her chest to her right breast and Bella watched his face as his finger circled her nipple and chills exploded like a starburst. He didn't react at all, but just continued on in his survey, brushing fingertips down over her arm, still bent to clutch her heart then drawing a line across the plain of her stomach while his eyes followed as if he were memorizing each millimeter.

His fingers continued their whisper journey down her side…

And froze abruptly.

A little crease pinched his brow as his gaze darted from one hip to the other. Both palms came up to brush over the bruised shadow of Paul's four fingers imprinted on each hipbone from where he'd held her too roughly from behind last week.

Sam's eyes climbed back up to hers, fire flickering behind them.

Bella couldn't hold that gaze. Hitching a shoulder to her ear, her eyes dropped to where she pulled her hand from her heart. She tentatively stretched her fingers out to his face.

Sam leaned in to meet them, rubbing his jaw lazily back and forth against her hand in that primal lupine way they all did if given the chance.

Whether it was the fact that it was the first time she'd seen him show familiar Pack behavior or that it felt almost tender, it made tears well in her eyes.

Her heart spasmed then and she caught her breath, snatching her fingers back from his face to press them to her chest, trying to reach that throbbing pain.

Sam's hands traveled up her sides to rest on her shoulders while he searched her face from under a furrowed brow.

"Come," he whispered.

And he drew her into his arms.

Silken musky heat enveloped her, pulling her body with him as he lay down. He scooted back onto the bed more as he held her head tightly to his chest with a big palm.

"This should make it better," he murmured, his deep croon rumbling soothingly under her ear.

Bella released a hitching sigh as she pulled her elbows into her sides and scrunched her fists up by her shoulders. Her knees naturally fell to either side of his body while heavy arms swaddled her in a firm embrace.

Heated power sparkled around her like fireflies.

And it did help.

It helped so many, many things.

His touch, his scent, the rise and fall of each deep even breath. Bella felt like she'd be content to just drape herself over him for hours and listen to his heartbeat.

"Is there any way to break it?" she whispered, staring over the rolling landscape of his chest.

"Yes."

Bella's head jerked up.

Sam's eyes were closed, his face utterly still.

She strained against him and his arms released her from their embrace so she could push up a little more. "Yes?" she gasped.

Large calloused hands smoothed down her back to the swell of her hips and then ghosted over her bottom. "Mm hmm," he hummed as they made their way back up her sides.

Gentle hands. Patient hands. His touch couldn't hide what that stoic mask disguised so well.

Sam's eyes popped open as if he'd heard that thought and watched her silently over the plains of his cheek.

"How?" She scooted up his chest a little more so she could see him better.

That soothing rhythmic caress didn't miss a beat and seemed completely divorced from the words that came next.

"I can kill him," he murmured, a little feral fire sneaking into the words and making them sticky. "Or I can mark you."

Bella pulled her lip into her mouth, flicking it with her tongue while his lulling hands tried to pull her under. "I'll learn to live with it," she announced quietly.

Of course she didn't want him to kill her husband and she was sick to death of mandates and barters. If she bound herself to another man it would be because of love.

But all practical thought started shimmying off into the irrelevant as her mind lost traction on the slick slippery slopes of rearing hormones. His hands continued to patiently caress over her body, stoking the fire in her belly that melted her into pliant, boneless need. It felt like with each pass of his hands those latent scars tucked under the surface healed just a little more.

She finally lost the fight and her eyes rolled back in her head. "You feel good," she mumbled.

"Touch is magic," he whispered in a honey tones.

She struggled with 100 pound lids and her eyes swam forward in search of his. They were closed again, his dark lashes nestled against his cheeks making that hard face almost look peaceful.

"Who touches you?" she asked.

He licked his lips and her gaze darted down to his mouth. Broad and well-formed, she wondered how he would taste.

"No one," he mouthed silently.

Bella's heart missed a beat as she searched that dispassionate face for more.

_Nothing._

Like her.

A contract based on need.

She let her eyes flutter closed.

Those hands kept their gentle caress over her body neither demanding nor pushing for more.

They felt amazing.

His body did too. Bella rubbed her breasts slowly back and forth over his chest, sopping up the slip of skin with pert nipples. She dipped down and brushed her nose over his collarbone collecting his scent and breathing it down on the heels of a sigh.

The embers that had been smoldering ever since he'd first said those words, flared to flame.

_I want you to have my child._

There were no feverish vows or empty promises, no desperate hands or plundering hips, yet still there was something darkly erotic about it. Their Alpha was going to fill her with his seed and it would grow roots in the fertile flesh of a body begging to be sated.

Bella was on the threshold of something she couldn't take back and it was titillating and terrifying and it turned her on something fierce.

Sam's hands came to rest on her waist, riding the undulations of her body as she rubbed it over the satin covered slopes of his torso. The air felt like it was crackling around her and she was grounding a current through everywhere there was skin-to-skin. She'd never experienced anything like it – Paul had never had the patience to let her play.

Her nose passed over a chocolate nipple and Sam's hips jerked up in response pressing the tip of smooth hard flesh against the apex of her yearning.

Like ground zero, it ignited her blood like it was Napalm. With a soft moan she rubbed her body against his, feeling how he slipped along her slick swollen skin.

Bella slid down farther, taking him just inside, bobbing up and down and feeling the head stretch her opening. He was bigger than Paul and it was a delicious burn that was echoed in her chest with fire.

She opened her eyes to see Sam's face tipped up, lips tight, nostrils flared. His hands were molded firmly to her hips, his body rigid and still.

"Sam," she whispered.

His eyes popped open, darting down with a squint of undisguised restraint.

"Promise?" she mouthed.

He nodded once.

And Bella impaled herself to the hilt ...driving the dagger home into her heart.

Falling to his chest, she stifled her cry with determined lips as Sam's body silently arched under her. Laying her cheek down on his chest she panted for a moment while adjusted to his size and the pain in her chest. This is what Paul endured every time he screwed another conquest – or maybe he just didn't feel it any more.

Sam's hips were jerking up with pleading reflexes, each thrust pushing him against her womb. At a feather touch on her shoulder she picked up her head to find him watching her with eyes that were backlit by lupine incandescence. But his hand was gentle as it tucked her hair behind an ear and then absently fingered the shell.

"May I?" he whispered.

Bella nodded breathlessly.

Eyes locked with hers, his hands slowly slipped around her body and then he flipped them with unnatural speed.

As he pushed his weight off of her, Bella closed her eyes and drew in deep lungfuls of air that only seemed to the flames. At a tickling brush, her eyes popped open to see Sam holding himself up on one arm as he pulled his hair over one shoulder with the other.

Bracing himself over her again his eyes found hers and swallowed her whole.

Bella froze, panting softly through her mouth, caught in the stillness of his soul. In that moment, she'd happily drown herself in those eyes to know their secrets.

Slowly he pulled out of her body and then pushed back in, deep and long. Lips clamped shut, her moan caught in the back of her throat. Watching her carefully, he did it again with a languid undulation of his hips that made every neuron sizzle and spark.

She tipped her hips up to meet him the next time, wrapping her legs around his back and holding him so he couldn't pull so far out. Her body wanted him inside.

Lips curving softly, Sam tilted his head while his eyes strummed up and down her face.

Bella wasn't used to that kind of attention and it was unsettling, so she closed her eyes as her hands slipped up his rock-hard forearms and held on tight.

With a few priming pumps of his body, Sam started thrusting into her with a slow and steady rhythm that made her breasts sway and her fingernails dig into his skin. Every cell of her body was tingling, the white noise of need eating away at that sharp pain in her chest.

A low moan escaped her trembling lips and it leached into the night, echoed by thunder. Her eyes snapped open in chagrin to find him watching her, black eyes already locked with hers. That mask was crumbling, micro-expressions showing through the cracks while his nostrils quivered.

Sam gasped, throwing his head back, as he thrust into her over and over. He felt so good she never wanted it to end, but she could feel her peak bearing down on her, rising up like deep sea swell.

Bella arched her back, with breathless cries as he slammed into her faster and faster with the sound of smacking flesh. Cresting the lip, she was dashed to the rocks below with an ecstasy so violent, she shattered into a million pieces. She caught her release in a strangled moan as heat exploded inside her, dragging all the little shards along in another a rip-tide wave of pleasure.

'

_Silence._

'

Outside, thunder settled in to the night with a final rumble and the rain plucked at the window with dwindling concern.

Gasping, Bella surfaced from overwhelm with wide eyes to find Sam poised over her, hanging between his locked arms and panting through parted lips.

Watching her.

She flinched when their eyes locked into place.

_It was done. _

Even if she didn't conceive his child, he'd marked her with his scent, advertising his conquest for a week or more.

Bella closed her eyes and her feet slipped down from his sweat-slicked back to the mattress.

Pulling his body from hers, Sam rolled onto the bed beside her.

In a desperate attempt to hold onto the moment and avoid whatever came next, she savored the way pleasure still tingled in her toes. It hummed through her body, sparkled behind her eyes. She'd never felt so good before and now she knew what Paul had meant. He was always looking for a better high.

Bella had found it.

She opened her eyes to the ceiling. Swallowing, her face flopped over to where Sam was laying on his side, tracing her profile with an unfathomable stare.

She rolled over to face him.

Head resting on the mattress, the cream of the sheets set off his rich skin tone and his hair was tousled over a crimp of emotion in his brow. Some of the tension had left his face, softening unforgiving lines, and lax parted lips made that stern mouth look sensual.

In that moment, he wasn't their Alpha who inspired terror with a glance, he was simply …

Beautiful.

With a tentative little smile she shoved both hands under her cheek and looked back into those bottomless eyes.

The sheets rustled and she glanced down to where his hand was slowly lifting toward her. His fingertips brushed over her cheek, mapping its contour with a calloused touch until he found a stray hair. He smoothed it back with the others then his fingers settled on her jaw.

Without warning or word, he scooted toward her across the sheets.

Blinking in confusion, Bella lifted her head just as he dipped in and pressed warm silken lips to hers for an entire breath. He pulled away with the delicate smack of moist skin. Then he returned to his position.

And watched.

Bella's eyes paced back and forth between his, searching for clues. He offered her none.

Licking her lips, she reached out a tentative hand toward him while Sam kept their eyes joined. Watching for reprimand, Bella oh so lightly brushed her middle finger over his chin - it was stubbly and warm to her touch.

Sam's nostrils flared once, but he didn't move. Her courage bolstered by that fact, she reached up to his brows, tracing the space where they gave a wide berth to his nose. Set apart as they were, they made his eyes look sensitive, concerned. She followed his nose with a feather touch and then swept the long strand of ebony from his face and smoothed it back over his temple.

Her fingers traveled down his rough jaw to those lips, where she delicately traced the shape and then slipped the pads of her fingers under his chin. Eyes locked with his, she slowly slid across the sheets toward him, giving him a chance to object, until her eyes were crossed and she could press her lips to his, returning his kiss.

His breath was warm where it rushed down over her lips and he tasted so sweet. Their mouths parted with an intimate smack but she stayed for an indulgent moment longer, breathing the air from his lungs.

Closing her eyes with a thick swallow, she started to pull back.

Sam stopped her flight with a petitioning hand on her cheek. Her breath shallow and quick, she hesitantly leaned in for another taste and a soft exploratory kiss. It felt so good.

She tipped her head slightly and did it again.

And again.

Sam's hand slipped around to the nape of her neck, silently pulling her in to his mouth then, gathering her lips in a firm caress of his own.

Bella's hand slipped to his shoulder to steady herself as his mouth became more assertive. Rising up from the bed, Sam's palm cupped the back of her head as he reared up and pressed her firmly down into the mattress with his weight. His tongue traced her lower lip, requesting entrance.

Bella's lips automatically parted.

Sam dove into her with unapologetic want, smothering her whimper and swallowing it down. As he pulled her body flush against his with possessive hands, his aggressive mouth slowly softened into long, deep pulls.

His lips were like an intravenous injection of ecstasy, flooding her body with a rush of ardor. The part of her that struggled to keep her sanity above the rushing passion was overtaken by the deluge of viscous, syrupy yearning and she arched into him. Her hands reached up to dig into his flexing shoulders, pulling him closer.

_Oh, closer._

He. Felt. So. Good.

Sam's big body rolled over onto her and her legs instinctively opened, muggy, torrid desire pooling heavy between them. His tongue twisted leisurely, sensuously mapping her mouth while he settled between her parted knees and pressed the thick, hard column of flesh against her.

Bella moaned wantonly against his lips.

Sam tore his mouth from hers and Bella's eyes cracked open to his, wild and burning, washing over her in feral relish. Sam shimmied a hand under her and then lurched up to his knees with her in his arms, settling her into his lap.

It was such a head-spinning surprise that Bella gasped. But the counterpart exhale was released into his mouth as he smothered her in a vicious kiss while his hands smoothed down her back with contrasting human care.

He broke the kiss with a low growl, his lips suckling, tongue licking over her cheek, lapping over jaw, stumbling and staggering toward her ear.

"I want to see your eyes when I take you," he murmured sultry and low into her ear before he pulled the lobe between erotic teeth.

Bella groaned as her entire left side exploded into chill bumps.

Sam released her ear as his lips sought the hollow under her jaw. With a moan, Bella tipped her head to the side, offering her neck in the instinctive lupine gesture of sensual surrender.

She was drowning in him and she didn't care. With hum of ecstasy, she brazenly rubbed her crotch over his length in rolling begging undulations of her own need.

He growled in approval as his lips swept over her neck then captured her racing pulse. At the first delectable bite of his teeth on the tendon, a hot searing geyser of lust burst through her body pushing her breath through her gritted teeth in a hiss.

With a grunt, he pulled his mouth away and rearranged her in his arms. Dizzy with desire, Bella tumbled into him.

He smelled _so good_. Dark and delicious: male, mate.

Bella licked over his defined musculature, laving his collar bone with sing-song pleasure, suckling in the hollow of his throat, tracing over the prominent swell of his Adam's apple, inhaling the skin under his jaw. Her teeth grazed over the stubble of his chin on her way to his mouth.

But he pulled back.

Bella's eyes snapped open with a worry that was instantly forgotten. His eyes were locked with hers from under indolent lids. A ghost of a smile hitched up his lips as his hands slipped down to grasp her bottom.

Panting with anticipation, Bella wrapped her arms around his neck as he dragged her up his body, slow and sensuous. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head at the sultry feel of his satin skin against hers.

"Bella."

His low whisper brought her focus back to his eyes. They were heated and hungry and demanding that she stay.

And then he pushed inside her. Sam's hands clasped her waist as his hips bucked up into her, each tantalizing thrust pushing deeper while she gasped and held him tight. He watched her struggle to keep her eyes open as she choked on passion, tipping her head up as she felt her entire body buckle and burn from the pressure. A low and longing groan climbed the back of her throat as he seated her fully on his length.

"Mmm," he hummed in return and leaned down to capture her mouth while his hands effortlessly pulled her up his body again.

He slammed her back down, his hips bucking up to meet her while she shamelessly moaned her pleasure into his mouth.

He did it again and again, finding a sumptuous rhythm while he kissed her deep and delirious with a slow, sticky burn. His hungry breath sprinted ahead, puffing in uneven pants through his nose over her cheeks while he thrust into the burning molten apex of her thighs.

As she crested her peak, she threw her head back, breaking the kiss with a rasping cry while his hips stuttered with his own demise. Her body's spasms of pleasure pulled him after her with a deep groan that was let to the sky.

'

Sanity returned slowly.

As Bella's breath slowed and the darkness receded from the edges of her vision, she realized she was still wrapped tightly in his arms, her damp forehead resting against his shoulder.

Sam's face was buried in her neck.

Bella picked her head up while her hands idly gathered his long hair at the nape of his neck and pulled it from the beads of sweat down his back.

With a shudder, Sam picked his head up. His eyes still closed, she watched him take a few deep stolid breaths while she traced his cheek with the pads of her fingers and swept his hair from his face, pushing it over his shoulder and tucking it behind each ear.

Finally his eyes blinked open. Endless midnight found hers and then rested while his arms wound covetously around her waist.

"More," he whispered.

A small smile tiptoed over her lips. "How do you want me?" she asked out of habit and then stopped herself with two sound blinks. She could never mistake this man for Paul.

Sam's still eyes paced slowly between hers and then his hand came up to hold her jaw. He pressed his lips to hers in a firm smacking kiss.

"Exactly as you are," he breathed over them.

And then he pressed her down into the bed.

'

'

* * *

'

'

Bella squeezed her eyes closed tighter against the light.

But memories flooded over her with it of last night and adrenaline chased after slumber in a sprint, nipping at its heels. Her body froze, not daring to move as her eyes popped open darting wildly around her periphery. The soothing cherry and cream of Sam's room greeted her.

It wasn't a dream.

Drawing in a breath, Bella picked her head up off the bed and turned to find an empty field of rumpled sheets. Sitting up a little more, she pulled the covers up a little higher and her knees to her chest while her eyes took bleary inventory of a room she'd barely seen last night.

Outside the day was in full force, the rambunctious sun was peeking through the clouds in the swath of light that had woken her. Bella rubbed her face and pushed the sheets aside as she slipped her legs over the edge of the mattress. She let her feet slide to the floor and then steadied herself against the nightstand.

She was a little sore; with barely a word between them, she and Sam had made love all night. In those strong skilled arms she had no doubt that she would have promised him anything he'd asked for.

In fact she had: her first born son.

But now, the heat of the night had evaporated into the cold hard day after.

Bella felt like the bottom had dropped out of her world and she was free falling.

Pushing off the table, she stumbled to the bathroom and shut the door, leaning back against it. What had she done? In the harsh light of day the ruined landscape of her life was laid bare like a battlefield, now over-shadowed by a looming new horizon.

She'd basically just walked out on Paul and into…

_Oh, God. _

Into what?

Bella pushed off the door and caught herself on the sink, her eyes frantically searching the mirror for herself. The woman staring back at her was someone she didn't recognize. Her lips were still red and swollen, there were bruises from a passionate mouth down her neck and her hair was a matted mess. She'd had sex with another man. Without protection.

Bella fell over the sink jerking it on and splashing water on her face over and over while she tried to yank air into her lungs.

She felt like she was hyperventilating. Gasping, she turned it off and wiped the water from her lips with the back of her hand.

_Get a hold of yourself, Bella!_

Drawing in a deep breath, she released it slowly through pursed lips. And then again. Crossing to the tub she turned on the shower and promptly climbed inside, sputtering and squeaking at the cold spray.

It effectively distracted her for a while.

But soon the water was warming and she as back to working it through reality and sex-matted hair.

_That_ part had been worth it at least.

It was the best she'd ever had. Sam was a sensitive lover – intense and passionate yet even in the white hot fires of ardor had a careful touch. He'd pumped screams of delirium past her lips then brought her down with tenderness only to turn around and do it again.

And again.

And…

Bella tipped her head back as the water washed over her head and clung to her hair, siphoning down her back. That was actually part of the problem. Aside from just the general slap of a complicated new reality…

She had no idea how to feel about Sam.

What was she? The Alpha's mistress? Lover? Roommate? Something else? Yesterday the lines had seemed so clear.

In one fell night she'd blown her world apart. Bella had never been so rash.

She finished washing, dried off and brushed out her hair while her mind tried to pick up all the shattered pieces and fit them back together in some semblance of order. Sam had said she could decide – the problem was, she didn't know what the hell she was feeling. Or what she wanted. Needed.

Pressing her lips together, she opened the door and peeked out into her new life. Cautiously she took the first step into a room she barely recognized. Last night had been all about Sam's eyes.

She searched the room and couldn't find her hide nor hair of her clothes. But there was a tee shirt folded neatly on the dresser… she supposed that was for her.

Letting the towel fall to the ground she shook it out and put it on. It was a plain blue shirt and obviously Sam's - it fell to her knees.

After stripping the bed, pulling up the comforter and gathering her courage, Bella opened the bedroom door. The hallway was empty and foreign.

Pulling her lip into her mouth, she cautiously made her way toward the stairs, eyes taking in all the details she'd missed last night. Wooden molding, soothing colors, but strangely all the walls were bare.

She paused at the head of the stairs, listening for any noise below.

Which was futile, she realized; shapeshifters moved without a sound.

With a sniff at herself, she gripped the handrail and took each step slowly, one after another. As soon as she could on the flight of stairs, she bent down and peered out into the living room. It was empty. She walked the rest of the way down and into a silent house.

Wrapping her arms around herself she walked with careful quiet feet as she made her way toward the kitchen while her eyes nervously scanned a room that had been nothing but a shadowed blur last night.

The hearth was still and cold, the scent of fire lingering in the air. The couch where he'd sat was still there as well as the rug where she'd watched the flames.

She crept on cat feet to the open entryway to the kitchen and peered inside. It was also empty. Crossing her arms over her chest and shoving her hands into her armpits, she tentatively made her way into the large room. It must be afternoon – the sun was coming from the west and filtering in through the skylights above. Bella's eyes swept the vaulted ceiling and then over the walls and windows. This part of the house was newer – added on after the rest of it. And over the last few years or so, by the looks of it.

It was odd – she was pretty sure he'd lived here as long as she'd known him. She wondered why he had such a big kitchen when he didn't cook.

Bella dragged her hand along the heavy wooden table as she made her way toward the windows on the far side of the room. She crossed to the back door and peered out the window as far as she could in both directions. The yard was empty and wet from the rain last night, the woods dark and deep.

With a confused press of lips, she turned back to the kitchen.

Where was he?

More importantly, why did she care?

He'd said she basically had free run of the house. And if this were her house, what would she do right now?

That was easy: cook.

She smiled as her eyes greedily devoured the miles of counter space and generous refrigerator and stove. She ghosted her hands over the cool smooth marble as she strolled along them. There were no electric appliances up on the counters – which she liked. Only a pottery jar holding wooden cooking spoons, spatulas and ladles sat in the corner by the stove.

She opened the refrigerator to find her things neatly stacked on one side. The rest of it was filled with loaves of bread, bags of sandwich meats and cheese, condiments and two gallons of milk. Bella frowned and opened the freezer to find a host of convenience foods and TV dinners.

"Like some kind of bachelor," she sniffed a laugh, until she realized that was exactly what he was.

It was just hard to imagine their stalwart Alpha sitting down to a ham and cheese sandwich and glass of milk, especially since she knew good and well about the limitless lupine appetite. How the heck did he get enough to eat?

Shaking her head, she pulled out her groceries and set them on the counter. She was just going to cook that breakfast she's planned yesterday for Paul. She'd sit down at the table and have some and if Sam came back he could eat the rest of it or she'd leave it for him in the fridge.

In her foraging for utensils and dinnerware, she found a pair of take-out chopsticks which she broke in half. Twisting her hair into a knot she shoved one through to keep it up and off her neck.

Then Bella got down to business.

It was fun to work in such a roomy kitchen. She found herself humming tunelessly as she fried two pans of bacon at the same time while she was using yet another for an omelet. She made the whole carton of eggs, throwing basil and cheese along with a tomato she'd found in the drawer in a couple if them and ham and cheddar in the rest.

After fishing the last piece of bacon from the pan and piling it with the rest on the paper towel-lined plate, she went searching for a rag to clean up some of the collateral mess. She found one in the drawer by the sink and wet it under the faucet.

Shaking it out she turned to go wipe down the counter when finally she saw him.

Arms crossed over his chest, Sam was leaning in the doorway, watching her with those inscrutable eyes.

Bella's heart stopped right then and there. His hair was pulled back tightly in a braid from a hard stoic face and he was bare-chested, dressed in his requisite cutoffs. He looked every inch their intense and imposing Alpha.

But all Bella could think about was their dark chocolate sex.

Two worlds collided giving her vertigo and her eyes plummeted to the floor, bowing her head as her cheeks exploded with heat.

"Did you sleep well?" That deep bass rolled lazily across the room, sending a shiver down her spine. A completely different kind of shiver than before.

Bella nodded mutely as she fiddled with the warm rag in her hands. She pulled her lip into her mouth and chewed on it furiously – suddenly she had no idea what to do.

He was her Alpha, she was Paul's imprint, they'd had sex pretty much continuously until dawn.

And she was more than likely already carrying his child.

Bella squeezed her eyes closed.

Opening them again she cleared her throat and bravely soldiered on.

"Um, I made breakfast," she announce the obvious as she turned and made her way to the stove without another glance in his direction. She nervously wiped up the tomato juice the counter while she tried to get herself under control.

"Are you hungry?" she called out over her shoulder.

When he didn't answer she turned around. Sam was standing in the same position with a furrow to his brow. He nodded once and pushed off the doorframe.

Bella bit her lip and turned back to the counter. She stacked two clean plates under the serving dish piled with several omelets and then turned around. Sam was standing by the table.

Watching.

She crossed the short distance and nervously set the dish on the table, pulling out the two plates and pushing one to the other side of the table without meeting his eyes.

He wordlessly stepped over the bench to sit down and Bella whipped back around to the counter with the excuse of ferrying the rest of it.

Bowing her head for a moment while she drew in a steeling breath, she picked up the remaining items and returned to the table with the bacon and utensils. She laid them out and then wiped her hands uncomfortably on her hips…

And his shirt.

She looked up with an apologetic squint.

Sam didn't seem to notice. He was searching her face with that deliberate intensity.

"Do you want some milk?" she asked with a raise of her brow. Her voice sounded high and thin.

He shook his head curtly and then tipped his chin to the place on her side of the table.

Bella rolled her lips and then scooted onto the bench, her spine stiff.

Seemingly content with that, Sam turned his attention to the food. He served himself several omelets and a whole layer of bacon and then looked up to make sure she was doing the same.

Bella quickly picked up her fork and took one of smaller basil tomato omelets she'd made for herself.

Laying his forearm on the table, Sam hunched over his plate and stabbed a piece of bacon with his fork.

Bella watched him from under her lashes while pretending to cut a piece from her eggs. He shoved it in his mouth chewing awkwardly for a moment, his eyes a little too carefully trained on his plate. Swallowing he glanced up at her and she quickly returned her eyes to her own food.

But when she looked back up again, Sam was unabashedly digging in. He _was_ hungry - he was wolfing down the food and certainly giving credence to the phrase. With a steady rhythm he mechanically fed his hunger, keeping his eyes lowered to the job.

He made quick work of emptying his plate and was pulling the serving dish across the table for more before Bella had swallowed her second meandering bite.

"You can have the rest," she offered quietly.

His eyes flicked up to hers while he chewed his monster mouthful and then returned to where he promptly pushed his empty plate aside. He pulled the serving dish into its place and attacked it with gusto.

Bella smiled to herself as she cut another bite of omelet with a shimmy of her fork. He seemed to like it and it made her feel good.

_Her_ stomach was churning with too many nerves for her to be hungry, but she made herself eat a few more bites of omelet anyway.

When she sat back, she found Sam watching her from across the table, clearly victorious over three empty plates.

"I'm full," Bella wrinkled her nose, pushing her own away from her.

A brown hand slithered across the table and she looked up to a jump of Sam's brow. Bella pushed it into his hand as a giggle slipped free and her hand flew to her mouth a second too late.

Sam's lips spread in a subtle smile. Dark and bitter and sweet.

Their eyes lingered a heartbeat longer before Bella stood uncomfortably, reaching over to collect his empty dishes.

A big hand caught her wrist with those lightning reflexes and Bella looked up with a soft gasp of surprise. Sam's gaze was trained on his hand as it smoothed up her forearm in an unhurried caress. His eyes found hers.

"Thank you," he murmured, and then his hand released her.

Bella stayed frozen there for a second, trying to figure out whether the words were for breakfast, last night, their agreement or all three. Pressing her lips together over her confusion, she pulled the plates across the table and Sam returned to the remnants of her food.

Releasing a breath from her cheeks she crossed to the sink with the dirty dishes and set them in one side of the stainless steel double-basin and turned on the faucet. She was just reaching for the sponge when she nearly jumped out of her skin at the deep voice beside her ear.

"Don't do that."

She took a brusque step back, her eyes automatically scurrying for the floor while she tucked her head.

Calloused fingertips on her chin made her flinch. Sam urged her face up and Bella's eyes opened to that intimidating mask.

"And don't lower your eyes for me," he whispered.

Swallowing thickly, she nodded in his hand.

But he didn't release her. Index finger under her chin, his thumb brushed over her jaw while his eyes washed idly over her face. They ended on her mouth.

Bella held completely still – both starving for his heady kisses and terrified of how they'd feel by the light of day.

His thumb smoothed over her lips, gently smearing their fullness while he seemed to chase thoughts behind those serious eyes.

He let his hand fall heavily to his side.

"This is new for both of us," he breathed, his eyes climbing her face to find hers. "In time-…"

He paused his eyes pacing between hers like a caged animal, leaving the predicate dangling into the unknown.

He closed his eyes for a moment. Drawing in a breath, he spun around and stalked to the table. "You have no duty to me here," his sonorous voice rose to the rafters, making Bella back up a few steps into the counter.

"I made the terms clear last night. You can live your life as you wish." He leaned over the table and picked up the remaining plates and silverware.

The muscles flexed in his back fanning the embers under her skin.

"As long as you stay here until the child is born."

Bella wrapped her arms around her middle, actually grateful to be back in the black and white.

He deposited the dishes into the sink and reached for the soap. "To that effect I want your things brought here today," he continued dispassionately, like he was doling out any one of the many orders he did each day. He didn't look up but squeezed soap on the sponge. "You can tell Jacob what you want and the Pack will bring it."

She stared at him for a moment and he ignored her.

With a sigh, Bella pulled her lip into her mouth as she turned around and leaned her elbows on the counter, gazing thoughtfully out into the woods.

"I need to tell him," she whispered.

She hadn't made herself clear, but Sam seemed to understand anyway; she saw him sneak a glance at her out of the corner of her eye as he picked up a plate.

"Paul's not back yet," he informed her simply.

Bella squeezed her elbows with each hand as she leaned more over the counter and watched a cardinal fly down to the yard.

"And I want to get my own things," she decided. She turned to face him, leaning her hip into the cabinet. He didn't look up from the dishes.

For a minute she was distracted by the absurdity of seeing her intimidating Alpha with a long dignified braid, proud bare chest and elbows deep in the dish suds from breakfast. She chuckled softly.

Sam's eyes cut over to her and he arched a brow but didn't ask.

"I just need to get my head straight, y'know?" she continued, getting back on track. "Have some closure. Make sure I get the things I want – I won't remember it all."

Sam continued unerringly to rinse the plate in his hand but he was obviously considering her words. Finally he nodded brusquely and yanked off the water with only a few dishes washed.

He pulled the towel from the rack and wiped his hands as he turned to her. "Jacob and Embry will come and get you in half an hour," he decreed, the formal timbre starching his voice.

Bella didn't dare ask why them and not Sam as she pushed off the counter. Her stomach suddenly dropped at the prospect.

"Your clothes are in the dryer," he told her as he hung the towel back up. "It's in the closet on the back porch."

Bella stared up at him with wide eyes.

This was it: the repercussions of last night's decision were about to start tumbling over her like the first in a sickening march of dominos.

Jacob would know what she'd done.

And Embry. All of them.

They'd know she'd slept with their Alpha. And that she was going to have his child.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to _tell_ Jake what to bring after all…

Bella bit her lip on that weak attempt to delay the inevitable; they'd know no matter what anyway. She knew lupine senses well enough by now; even if she hid in the closet while they brought her things, the whole house probably reeked of sex.

She was so mixed up inside she didn't know what to think. Or feel. Or anything.

While a tempest raged inside her heart, she clung to the steady, emotionless eyes that held hers. There was something reassuring about his unflappable confidence – he didn't worry about the consequences, he simply met each fearlessly as they came.

Bella could try to do the same – she didn't really have a choice, anyway.

Releasing her lip from its incarceration, she nodded bravely.

Sam's eyes lingered on her face, collecting all the words she didn't say: the terror and uncertainty, the shame and whirlpool overwhelm.

And then turned on his heel without another word.

She watched him go with a brisk fluent gait as he slipped a cell from his back pocket and dialed with one hand. He held it to his ear as he disappeared through the door.

"Jacob," his resonant voice trolled the depths of his bass, in full-on command. But what followed next was a rush of Quileute too fast for her to understand. The front door slammed behind him, echoing through the house.

Bella collapsed against the counter burying her face in her palms. And She did the only thing she could at the moment - something she hadn't been able to do for a long, long time.

She cried.

'

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Review if you like.


	3. Part III - Rein

_Thanks so much for the notes – they really encourage getting this out. _

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**_Yemonja_**_ is da bomb – I'm jus' sayin. She read this through because I was worried that it was pretty intense and she agreed that it rocked her hard. _

_For those of you still thinking of my other iterations of Paul, check out this clip of Alex Meraz's character in Never Back Down 2. It's a little racy (but you're reading my stuff so…;-) but I think it gives a _perfect _glimpse of this other direction Paul could have gone. (obviously replace the DOTs) wwwDOTyoutubeDOTcom/watch?v=YUf8uTvOL3s _

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_Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy._

'

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**Part III - Rein**

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Bella burst up from the couch before the roar of a gunning engine truly reached her brain. She tripped in her haste to cross the living room while her hands buttoned another demure button on her flannel over shirt – like it could hide what she'd done.

She tore open the front door just as Jacob's SUV squealed to a Tokyo drift stop, tossing gravel up with the clang of metal.

Throwing herself outside, she froze mid-stride.

Sam was standing in the middle of the porch. Shoulders back, chin proud, long braid bifurcating the excised muscles of a straight spine, he had his hands clasped sedately behind his back.

As she passed him cautiously, he didn't even offer her a glance.

Jacob lunged out of the driver's seat and slammed the door behind him with a boom that made the vehicle sway on its tires.

"Jake," Bella gasped as she stumbled down the stairs and Embry slipped quietly out of the passenger side.

Jacob Black tore dagger eyes from their intended target and met hers with rage percolating behind that temperate milk chocolate. He hastened toward her and she didn't think or give him a chance to recoil, she just threw herself into his chest with all the desperation she felt.

"Bells," he breathed as his arms wrapped around her. It was comforting that at least he'd still touch her.

His muscles were trembling and jerking under her cheek, foreboding heat pouring off him in waves. He squeezed her tightly and then pulled back.

Bella kept her head tucked in shame as tears once again sprang to her eyes.

Hand slipping up to her jaw, he tipped her face gently up and studied her for a moment, his brow furrowing in a mixture of consternation and disbelief.

"Oh God, honey," he whispered and his eyes squeezed closed.

Leaning in, he pressed his hot lips to her forehead for the three stalwart beats of his heart under her palm. Then his big hands engulfed her shoulders as he pulled back with an audible smack and gently pushed her to the side and into Embry's waiting arms.

"You motherfucker!" Jacob's bellow had Bella twisting frantically away from his brother's chest.

Embry's burly arms caught her and pulled her back against his torso as Bella watched in horror while her best friend charged his Alpha, standing calm and dangerous on the porch.

Sam's face was unconcerned as Jacob bounded up the steps three at a time with lupine rage quivering in his stride and threatening to break through his skin.

"What the fuck did you do?!" he snarled as he threw his fist like wrecking ball putting all his weight behind it.

With lightning reflexes, Sam's hand snapped up to Jacob's fist like he'd merely snatched a tennis ball from the air.

The impact cracked like a whip, its reverberation rippling through Jacob's big body like he'd been electrocuted.

Sam's face darkened and his lips lifted from vicious canines in a flash of savagery that gave them all a warning glimpse of the animal inside. Then it eerily returned to that dispassionate mask, hard and smoking like cooled magma.

"You don't want to do this, pup," he whispered, a serpentine power writhing under the deep while he held Jacob's fist in concrete.

"The fuck I do," Jacob growled, ripping his arm free and throwing the other one straight into the man's gut.

Sam's body seemed to undulate before with the blow – absorbing or dodging it, she couldn't tell. With movements too fast for her human eye to follow, he twisted briskly, jerking Jacob off his feet, and threw him against the house with the sound of splintering wood.

Teeth bared and face livid, Jacob pushed off the wall and lunged again at his Alpha in a tackle. The two huge men went tumbling down the stairs.

Jacob landed on top with a fist already hauled back, but was instantly thrown through the air over Sam's head.

Embry dragged Bella further out of harm's way as a gentle hand slipped over her mouth. It was only then that she realized she'd been screaming.

Sam had flipped up and pounced before she could draw a breath through Embry's fingers. Tearing Jacob up from the ground he slammed a sledgehammer fist through his face with vicious strength, the force throwing Jacob from his one-handed grasp with the rip of cloth.

His face exploded in blood.

As he staggered backwards with a groan, Sam stalked after him, his braid twitching like a tiger's tail. Grabbing Jacob's shoulders just as he was finding his balance he slammed a brusque knee into his gut in a wicked blow that made him double over in Sam's hands.

Sam released him, shoving him with casual strength to the ground even as he fell. Then he stepped to his side and knelt over him, pushing his knee between Jacob's shoulder blades.

Sam grabbed the hair at his crown and wrenched his head back off the ground as fingers slipped around and clawed over his throat like he was poised to rip it out with his bare hands.

"_No SAM!"_

Her shriek was smothered by Embry's frantic hand and reverberated in her skull.

Sam ignored them both as he leaned over Jacob's head and hissed in his ear, low and frightful. "I don't want to make Malia a widow or take the father from two cubs, but I will."

Jacob was gasping under him, his eyes wild.

Bella finally shook off Embry's hand. "Jake, please!" she cried. "It was my choice! It's my fault!" Tears were streaming down her face as she strained against Embry's iron grip around her waist.

Jacob's eyes rolled toward her while he gaged and choked.

"P-please," she wept.

Squeezing his eyes closed, he hashed the word hoarsely through gritted teeth. "Yield!"

Sam calmly released him and unfolded to his feet. "Let her go," he whispered, as he strolled back toward the steps without a glance in Bella's direction.

Embry released her and she careened out of his arms, toward where Jacob was coughing and rolling painfully over onto his back. His hand came up to his throat.

Bella tripped and fell and scrabbled the rest of the way to his side across the grass on hands and knees.

"Jake," she gasped. Eyes clenched closed in pain, his nose was broken under the sheen of a bloody mess. "Oh God, I'm sorry," she whimpered as her hands hovered helplessly over him.

He shook his head curtly and Bella glared over her shoulder at where Sam was standing on the first step watching her with unemotional eyes.

Surely this man wasn't the one who'd touched her so tenderly last night. The one who'd held her in his eyes and arms while he pushed his seed into her body and pumped moans of pleasure past her lips.

Jacob lurched up and she turned back around putting a useless hand on his shoulder. As he sat up, one of his arms snaked reassuringly around her waist even as he spat a tooth into his other palm.

His eyes were like rifle sights trained on the man standing on his porch steps without a hint of remorse.

"I've been begging you to step in for _three years_," he growled low – his voice inhuman and raw. "And after all she's been through you do _this_?!"

Sam regarded him silently for a moment. "She's mine to claim as I want," he murmured quietly. "You made your choices long ago," he tipped his head as his eyes washed over his face with a cold flare of nostrils. "Live with them."

With a snarl, Jacob started to push off the ground but Bella threw her arms around him. "No!" she whimpered, burying her face in his shoulder. "Jake, he gave me a choice. It's my fault."

Jacob stopped, turning into her as his arm squeezed her closer. "It's not your fault honey," he murmured in her ear. "That bastard knows exactly what he's doing."

Bella looked up at his bloody ruined face. "I'm sorry," she whispered. She had the sickening feeling that he was right.

"Shh," he soothed, pulling her into his side.

"Your duty is to your imprint and children now," Sam announced in that imperious bass. "And to your Pack."

Jacob turned a withering stare on the man doling out pronouncements. He fingered the tooth in his hand and then opened his mouth and pushed it into the empty space, holding it there as it reset.

"Bella has made her choice too," Sam continued on in callous velvet. "Take her to get her things and if her husband returns, deal with him as you see fit."

Jacob pulled his hand from his mouth, testing the tooth gingerly with his tongue while he scowled at his Alpha. Then with a grimace he reached up with quick cracking twist of his hand and reset his nose.

Bella's eyes darted out to where Sam was still standing with squared shoulders and immutable dominion. He captured her in a cold-blooded stare and Jacob pulled her around into his embrace, pressing her into his chest with a hand at the back of her head as if he could protect her from the fate she'd brought on herself.

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pressed her face into his shoulder as he situated her in his lap and then stood like she weighed nothing.

"With or without her things," Sam decreed, his voice diving down to the deep and trembling with power. She could taste the heated mandate of the Order boiling the words. "You will bring Bella back before sunset."

She felt Jacob shudder under her as he fought the steel hawsers that wrapped around his will. It was useless, even for him.

Turning over her shoulder, she watched Sam climb the steps with that taut grace. "She's asked me not to kill him," he murmured as he reached for the doorknob without turning around. "Jacob, I'm giving you a chance to resolve this without violence." With that he pulled open the door and walked inside, closing it quietly behind him.

Bella turned back to where Jacob was still glaring after him.

"I want to go home," she whispered.

'

'

In the suffocating silence of the car, Bella carefully mopped the blood from Jacob's face with wipe after wipe from between the two baby seats in the back. She couldn't believe she'd pulled them into this train wreck that was her life. They had families – Jake a toddler and month-old infant and Embry with his second one nearly here. It was supposed to be their weekend off.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, throwing another crimson cloth to the floor.

Jacob didn't move. "I'm the one who's sorry, Bells."

She frowned pulling out another wipe. "What? It's all my stupid-…"

"You should have never been caught up in this crazy shit," he interrupted her on a soft sigh.

Pausing with the wipe halfway to his face, Bella squeezed her eyes closed for a moment. She just needed to stay focused in the now, otherwise she might just implode. When she opened them again, Jacob was staring at her over his cheeks.

"What are you going to do?" he whispered.

Bella hitched a shoulder to her ear and focused on her hand as she brought another wipe to his chin. She dabbed carefully along his jaw.

"We could take you to the clinic," Jacob breathed.

Bella looked up sharply.

"It _might_ work," he squinted.

She knew he was trying to delicately suggest emergency contraception, but hormones had a spotty record in preventing pregnancy in the Pack. Kim had conceived the child she now carried when she was on the pill.

Her eyes dropped down to her lap as she absently fingered the wet cloth in her hand. As Paul grew more and more rough and restless over the years, she'd started second guessing her relationship and wondering if she would have gotten involved with him in the first place if she'd had a choice. Again, thrall had stolen her free will too with Edward.

She'd always wanted a choice.

Now she'd made one.

As stupid and rash as it seemed in the moment, did she want to take it back? Paul would still know she'd slept with their Alpha by scent – along with everyone else. No doubt about it, things were going to blow up; the only thing to avoid the repercussions would be to fly back to her mother's for a while. She might never be able to come back.

"Did he force you, Bells?" Jacob whispered.

Bella's eyes darted up, but she kept her chin tucked in shame. She shook her head.

"Don't lie just because you don't want me -..."

"He didn't Jake," Bella interrupted him as heat rushed to her cheeks.

Jacob picked up his head while his eyes darted over her face, searching for what she wasn't saying.

"Do you want this?" he asked gently.

When she didn't answer, Jacob's brow lifted and he smoothed her hair back from her face.

She glanced over to the driver's side at where Embry had his eyes trained a little too carefully on the road.

"I don't know," she whispered, returning to Jacob's patient eyes. "It made sense last night."

Jacob nodded with a sigh. "There's stuff you need to know before you decide."

Bella blinked, sitting up straighter.

"C'mon," he jerked his chin toward the house as Embry pulled them into the driveway. "I'll tell you inside."

As Embry cut the engine, Jacob pushed open the door with his foot and his arms wrapped around her. Realizing he was going to carry her since she'd left her shoes at Sam's, she scoffed and tried to shimmy out of his embrace.

A vicious snarl had Bella's eyes snapping up to his face in shock.

But Jacob's teeth were bared at his brother. Frozen with his hands poised to help her out of the car, a shocking retaliating growl was rolling from Embry's tender mouth.

"Jake?" she whispered, rubbing her palm soothingly over his shoulder.

With a final flash of canines at his brother, he met her eyes and slipped out of the vehicle, hoisting her up his torso and holding her tight. "Sorry," he mumbled.

"What's going on?" she frowned. Never once in her life had she heard them growl at one another.

"Scent," he bit out crisply as he crossed the yard to her house.

"Huh?"

Jacob set down on the steps to her house and straightened, pressing his palms over his eyes for a moment before his hands slapped down to his sides.

Embry strode up beside him. "You're scent," he clarified.

Jacob's eyes were tired as they found hers. "Alpha's mate," he whispered. "Makes us edgy."

The blood drained from Bella's face as she stared up at her best friend.

"The wolf is _protective_," he spat like he hated the words.

Her eyes darted between his, searching for more… but that was all there was. It was simple and inexplicable, like instinct always was.

And it was also behind why he wasn't grilling her with questions, why he was strangely resigned – instinct was already on board and Jacob was struggling to keep humanity into the loop.

"You need to know some stuff," he murmured, as his hand came to the small of her back and urged her toward the door.

Bella climbed the few steps to her little clapboard cottage. She hesitated with her hand on the screen.

"He hasn't been home," Jacob whispered cannily behind her.

Nodding, Bella pulled the screen open and then pushed in the door. Her living room stared back at her, exactly as she'd left it yesterday afternoon.

It didn't look the same.

Bella took a step across the threshold and into a house that felt alien. Even though she'd been gone only 24 hours, it might as well have been a million years. Feeling distinctly discombobulated, she walked slowly cross the wooden floors toward the couch while her eyes scanned her surroundings.

She absently swept up her cell phone from the coffee table as she passed and clicked it on: about 10 missed calls and texts from Jacob, Malia, Angela. None from any other number that could have been Paul. He didn't have a cell – he'd crushed so many in a rage that their modest income had decided to forgo the expense. Plus, she suspected, he didn't want to be tied down any more than he already was.

With a heavy sigh, Bella fell back to the couch, tossing the phone onto the table. She collapsed over her lap and hung her head in her hands for a moment while she tried to find purchase in this new shifting landscape.

Feeling the couch dip beside her, she turned to find Jacob watching her with worried eyes.

Even though she'd never been the type, she knew desperate people fell into bed with the wrong person all the time – for years she'd watched Jessica go through boyfriends like water. But those lapses in judgment – as inexcusable as they were - didn't usually have such profound consequences.

"I'm so stupid," she whispered, leaning her cheek on her fist.

He shook his head silently. "No one's going to judge you, Bells," he whispered. "But you've got to decide what you want."

She nodded tiredly in her hand.

"You know Sam's dangerous, honey," Jacob whispered, scooting back against the couch.

Embry sat down on the floor in front of her, stretching his legs out.

Bella pulled her feet under her on the couch as she scooted back so she could see them both.

"I know," she murmured as her gaze fell to her thigh and her fingers picking at one of the strings from her cut offs. "But last night he seemed... different," she breathed.

She looked up to find Embry and Jacob exchanging a glance.

"He's a guy, honey," Jacob sighed with an apologetic squint. "He'd probably do anything to get you in bed."

Bella's gaze washed over his face for a moment. Sam had said as much, hadn't he? Was last night just all about his ruse and her idiotic desperation?

"We don't want you mixed up with another guy like Paul," Embry offered in a quiet voice. "He's got a reputation."

"Sam?" she frowned meeting Embry's gaze. He nodded with a regretful press of lips.

Bella turned back to Jacob. "I thought no one knew if he had girlfriends."

"We don't," he affirmed as he pulled his knee up between them and shoved an uncomfortable hand through his hair. "But something happened a long time ago."

Bella did a circuit of his face. He looked… agonized, regretful. Worried.

"Something we don't tell the imprints," he admitted quietly.

Bella pushed herself back into the corner of the couch and pulled her knees up to her chest like a shield. "Something you guys all don't tell us?" she whispered – she thought they told them everything.

He nodded. "It's only happened once in our history," he said quietly, obviously hedging. "We're made to _protect_."

"Jake," Bella gasped, burgeoning dread stiffening her spine as her head whipped between the two brothers.

"You know how Leah hates him," Embry offered.

Bella's eyes snapped to him like a hawk. It was rhetorical question.

"Well it's not just 'cause he dumped her," he grimaced. "Just a few weeks after Sam phased he went over to break up. You know how Leah is -they fought pretty bad."

Embry looked uncomfortably to his brother and Jacob continued on. "Her cousin Emily tried to step in between them and Sam lost it…" he paused ominously.

"He killed her?" she gasped.

Jacob shook his head. "When he phased, he tore into her pretty bad. She made it through but it ruined her face. Her whole left side. She's scarred for life."

Bella's eyes had grown out of room in their sockets. "Wh-wh..why-…?" she couldn't get her mouth to work.

"Harry was on the Council, so they hushed it up as a bear attack," Jacob said carefully. "They paid for her medical bills and kept Leah quiet."

"Where is she?" Bella breathed, her hand snaking unconsciously around her stomach.

"She went back east to live with family," Embry said quietly.

Bella glanced out at his frown.

"But Bells," Jacob's warm hand on her knee brought her attention back to those agonized eyes. "That's never happened before. Sam's different."

Bella's eyes paced between his as her brow furrowed. "But he was the first… he had no one to teach him how to control… He-…" She proffered desperate excuses for the man she'd allowed inside her body last night.

"He's more animal than man," Jacob whispered. "He doesn't have enough to keep him in check."

"It's the reason everyone's so freaked out by him," Embry hammered another nail into her heart. "If he snaps-…"

"But he's been a good Alpha," Bella burst to her feet – not really understanding why she was so hell-bent on defending him.

Jacob nodded slowly. "He _is_ a good Alpha," he enunciated carefully, like he was talking to a crazy person. "But, honey, Sam's not a good man."

Bella slapped her hands over her face and turned her back on them. Turned her back on all of it.

"We don't want you to get hurt again, sweetheart," Embry tried to soften the sting with cashmere, but it felt like salt in her wounds.

Jacob continued in a soothing monotone. It reminded her of Sam. "You have a chance to decide if this is what you want, Bells."

Bella hung her head while her mind spun. Things were so much simpler in the black and white and so much clearer by day. She needed some time to think - she'd made one hasty decision already, and she wasn't going to follow it with another. But there was one thing she could focus on right now, one that that was perfectly clear:

Rubbing her hands on her shorts, she turned around and pulled her shoulders back with counterfeit courage. "Well no matter what …" she paused, swallowing and trying to get her hands on the reins. "I'm still leaving Paul tonight."

Jacob searched her eyes for a moment and then nodded once.

With a sigh, Bella looked around the house for some place to begin. Wherever she was going, she didn't want to drag this past with her… and there wasn't much of it to drag anyway. Unbidden, her eyes prickled with tears and she crossed her arms over her chest willing herself not to cry. She felt so alone and ungrounded right now.

Caring hands rubbed down her arms and then slowly urged her around. Bella hunched her shoulders up as she tucked her head against the press of tears. Her world was crumbling around her.

"Shh," Jacob soothed, trying to tip her face up. "Everything'll be okay, Bells."

Bella took one look at those kind brown eyes… and disintegrated in his arms.

Jacob pulled her to his chest and wrapped his bulky arms around her while Bella sobbed piteously into his shirt. His scent was brother and Pack – but something about it also reminded her of Sam. His arms had felt so good around her last night that she'd started hoping that maybe in them she could find some peace. And then daylight came.

Everything was so messed up.

"Let it all out, honey," Jacob murmured, pressing his lips to her hair. "We'll figure it out."

Bella tried to reel in her hiccupping sobs as she pulled back. "I'm sorry," she sniffled miserably.

He didn't let her go far. Jacob leaned down and peered into her swollen eyes. "There's nothing to be sorry for, honey," he whispered. "You've been needing to cry for a while."

The ring of a cell phone made her start. Wiping impatiently at the snotty mess of grief, she pulled out of Jacob's arms and watched Embry put his phone to his ear.

"Hey Angel," he said quietly, turning his back on them. "Shit!"

Bella's hands fell to her sides as her heart leaped in her throat.

"Angel-girl," Embry soothed, obviously fighting to stay calm himself. "Take it easy, baby. Lie down. I'll be there in five."

Bella glanced worriedly at Jacob. "She thinks she's going into labor," he whispered.

"Love you," Embry whispered and then clicked off his phone. Flipping his hair out of his eyes the way he always did when he was nervous, Embry turned around with worry slathered over his face.

"Is she okay?" Bella asked tensely.

Embry nodded. "I' gotta go."

"Jake, take him," she turned on his brother.

"I should stay-…"

"Go!" she commanded brusquely.

Jacob's eyes widened before they slipped deferentially to the floor.

Confused, her gaze darted out to where Embry had his head tucked as well. It was the strangest thing she'd ever seen – the instinctual lupine submission to an order from someone farther up the chain in command?

There wasn't time for conjecture. "Jake, drive them to the clinic," she softened her voice. "I need some time to pack anyway."

His eyes ventured up and he nodded even while confusion furrowed his brow. Embry however, started for the door, anxiety jerking his stride.

"Call me and let me know how she's doing," she called out after them.

"We will," Embry returned over his shoulder as he jogged out onto the porch

Jacob paused at the door and turned to her with an expression she couldn't read. His eyes washed over her for a moment like he was really seeing her for the first time. "I'll be back soon," he whispered.

Bella pressed her lips together and nodded brusquely.

With a final glance, he stepped out on the porch, closing the door quietly behind him.

Bella stared after them for a moment and her arms wound around her middle as if it could hold all the shattered pieces together.

She was alone with her ghosts now. Turning back to her house, her eyes swept the wreckage of her life. She crossed slowly to the bookshelf and Paul's and her wedding picture framed in silver. Picking it up with a sad smile, she ran her index finger over his handsome face. In the moment captured here, he actually looked happy.

She pulled the frame tenderly to her chest as her eyes darted next to the one of them at Disney world – the trip they'd taken with Jake and Embry and their new imprints that first year. She pulled it off the shelf and examined it as if it could tell her what she'd done wrong.

Paul had one arm slung around her shoulder and the other was holding the camera out in front of them. She was smiling up at him with sappy adoration and he was staring into the lens with his signature smirk.

Happy days.

They were few and far between after the first year of imprint bliss. Her eyes scanned the rest of the living room and the open kitchen. There were no other trinkets or remembrances to document their life together beyond this. Pictures of Jacob and Embry's kids papered the refrigerator in the kitchen and there were some bonfire candids and Pack party stills on the corkboard above the bills. Never were she and Paul in one together.

Pulling memories of better days closer to her heart, Bella slowly made her way down the hall to the extra room. She opened the closet and rummaged through it until she found her old suitcase. Yanking at it with gritted teeth, it finally dislodged from the corner and boxes tumbled down messily around it.

Unzipping the outside pocket, she careful stowed the pictures away. The rest of her things should fit inside: she had a few books, her clothes and toiletries, her 3-year old laptop and the kindle given to her for Christmas by Jacob and Malia.

Bella dragged the suitcase down the hall behind her to the living room. Their bedroom was too small and messy at the moment. Flipping the case open, she pulled several books from the shelf and tucked them in the corner and then padded down the hall to their bedroom. It looked like a hurricane had hit – clothes, rumpled sheets, some dishes Paul had left. Bella had always like to keep things tidy, but this was the negligent landscape of despair.

Pulling her drawers open, she scooped up a load of clothes up in her arms and headed back to the living room while she contemplated choice versus fate, contracts versus love and the heartache of the last three years.

She knew for a fact that under Paul's veneer of cocky machismo and swagger, lurked a sensitive heart that just didn't know how to heal and love. But she'd given him everything she had to try and change that: patience, kindness, forgiveness even when he'd hurt her beyond repair. She'd tried to lay herself bare, stand by his side, offer up body and heart without reserve to show him how deeply she cared. It only seemed to make him angrier.

All things considered, she figured a contract was a hell of a lot safer than love, even when it was made with an Alpha who was more animal than man.

She dumped the clothes unceremoniously into the suitcase and then trudged back down the hall for more, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. She didn't have any answers or even the right questions right now but she was sure about _this_ decision: leaving Paul. She just couldn't do this anymore.

But still her hands shook as they opened her top drawer and pulled out socks, cotton bikinis and bras. She turned mechanically with her armful of underclothes-…

The bang of the front door froze her in her tracks.

Her blood turned to Freon while her paltry human ears strained for any clues. Jacob shouldn't be back this soon. A low thud and shuffle made her squeeze her eyes shut; she doubted Jacob would have sent over a human and the only time wolves made noise was when …

they were hammered off their ass.

Pulling the clothes tighter to her chest, she started out of the bedroom, feeling distinctly like she was marching to her place in front of a firing squad. Right or wrong, good or bad, she'd made a decision last night and she needed to face the consequences.

And her husband.

She crept down the hall as quietly as she could, keeping her eyes locked on the suitcase- just visible on the living room floor beyond. Head tucked and shoulders pulled in tightly, she strode into the room and dumped the clothes into open luggage. Rubbing her hands on her shorts, she turned slowly toward the door and her fate. She could smell the alcohol from across the room.

One muscular arm braced against the wall, Paul's tee shirt was inside out and looked like it had spent the night in a crumpled ball in the back of someone's car (which it probably had).

Paul didn't look much better. His hair was mussed and sticking out in every direction and he had a thick two-day shadow of scruff on his jaw. He was swaying slightly, bloodshot eyes wide and trained on her in patent shock.

But even trashed and on the gutter-end of a downward spiral, she couldn't find it in her heart to hate him. Bella loved who he could have been still.

"I wish you wouldn't do this to yourself," she whispered.

Paul ignored her. "You let him _FUCK YOU_?" his voice immediately vaulted up to a bellow as he pushed off the wall.

Bella flinched. "I'm giving you what you always wanted, Paul," she said quietly. "Freedom."

He laughed bitterly as if she hadn't spoken as he took an unsteady step towards her. "I never knew you were such a slut."

Bella stood her ground as best she could. "I'm married to the best."

Paul cackled – a wild feral sound of pain and disgust. "Guess it was only a matter of time, huh?" he sneered.

Bella felt trapped against the wall as he prowled toward her, but she knew good and well by now not to run. With distracting words, she moved casually toward the center of the room.

"Paul, I promise I didn't plan this. It just happened and I'm not proud," she murmured, her voice softening to the register bent on soothing the wolf. "No one deserves to be cheated on and I'm sorry."

He paused on the far end of the couch with a roll of his eyes and laugh that boiled with acid. "Do you know how long he's been creaming to get in your panties?"

Bella blinked in confusion.

He nastily mocked her expression with wide eyes and a purse of lips. "Poor innocent little Bella."

His eyes swept the ceiling like he was chasing memories. "The day I imprinted he beat the fucking shit out of me - it wasn't Jake," he cocked his head and absently cracked a row of knuckles. "He's wanted that ass for a while."

Bella took a thoughtless step back, steadying herself against the wall.

Paul sniffed a disparaging laugh at whatever he saw in her face. "Told me if I didn't treat you right, he'd slit my throat," he smirked, his eyes dipping down to his hand. He ran it over the back of the couch as he slowly started toward her again.

"That's why I always liked to fuck you before meetings - just to see his face." He chuckled darkly with a smack of his lips.

"He'd get a hard-on and end it early," he hissed. "Before anyone could scent how **MUCH**," his voice catapulted to a yell making Bella jump. "**HE WANTED MY WIFE**!" With a flick of his wrist he tossed the couch over and then kicked it across the room with a deafening crash.

Bella shuffled back into the kitchen, all attempts at composure shattered. "P-Paul, I didn't know," she pled breathlessly. "That doesn't have anything to do with us."

"HA!" he barked a sarcastic laugh. "It has _everything to do with us_!" Wild flashing eyes singed hers as he slunk toward her.

Racing heart stumbling in her chest, Bella bumped into the counter behind her. "Paul, stop," Bella whispered, hating that her lips trembled.

He shook his head slowly with a knowing jump of his brow. She knew he'd always fed off her fear –it made him feel powerful.

"Please," she tried again. "Let's not end things like this."

His nose lifted to the air and he took a long salacious sniff. "Just a little bitch in heat," he crooned, ugly and low.

Pressing her back so fiercely into the counter that it bit into her spine, Bella's stomach was turning even while she felt the imprint coaxing her to lie down and surrender whatever he asked.

His eyes clung to her body in a lewd caress as he stopped inches from where she was plastered to the counter.

"I can give it to you too," he whispered as he reached out a finger and dragged it pointedly down her cheek. With lightning reflexes, he ripped open her flannel shirt..

"Paul, STOP!" she shrieked.

Like she'd flipped a switch, he froze, his eyes snapping to hers with undisguised surprise while the buttons skittered across the linoleum.

Slowly Paul's face darkened, brow furrowing over burgeoning understanding in blood-shot eyes. With a wicked flash of teeth, he hissed, "I don't take orders from you."

And backhanded her across the kitchen.

Pain exploded from her jaw as she careened into the refrigerator with a crash. Curling in on herself, Bella slid to the floor as baby pictures and Christmas card portraits fell over her like rain.

Paul was on her again in a second. He ripped her up off the floor and slammed her down on the counter so roughly her head cracked back against the cabinet behind her.

"You're _mine_," he growled right up in her face. "My imprint. My wife. _Mine_ to do with as I want."

Bella was swooning from both blows and she keeled over into his shoulder.

Somewhere between a grunt and a growl he pushed her back roughly, jerking her head up to a sour rapacious mouth.

A crash behind him made Bella's eyes struggle to roll forward.

Paul barely had time to tear his lips from hers before, eyes aflame in a face of dark savagery, Sam ripped him around, gnashing a mouthful of wicked hybrid teeth.

Bella watched Paul's face transform from shock to defiance in less time than she could shriek. But she simply couldn't hold her head up straight. The world tilted on its axis and, pitching forward, Bella plummeted toward the floor.

Somewhere in the spinning room there was a loud boom just as she was caught by merciful hands that spared her the fall.

She collapsed against a warm chest as her head lolled forward. The ground seemed to come up under her and Bella realized she'd been lowered to the linoleum. Gentle fingers tipped up her chin and her eyes swam over the sight of Sam's holocaust eyes taking brusque inventory.

"Don't," she gasped. It was the only thing she could manage. But Jacob had been right: in that gaze there wasn't even enough humanity left to comprehend the word.

She was propped back against the cabinet before Sam silently unfolded to his feet. Something in his movements made her battered consciousness swim up to the surface and back into the game.

With a moan, Bella tried to push herself off the ground while her woozy eyes staggered out to sounds of growling shuffles and a crash. Apparently Jacob had come back and he was careening across the room with Paul held in a rear chokehold. Both were snarling viciously.

Sam's gait was calm, deadly, as he advanced on the two struggling men. Braid swishing down his back, each step poured power into the next like a predator anticipating the taste of blood.

Crawling across the floor, Bella struggled to bring double vision into focus. "No," she choked.

Jacob's eyes darted out to her and then snapped to his Alpha.

"Mine," like a velvet serpent, Sam's whisper slithered across the room.

In the next second, with sharp precise movements that were too fast to follow, he'd thrown Jacob into the wall leaving Paul dangling in his iron fist.

Sam yanked him front and center while Paul tried to twist out of his grasp with a ripping snarl.

"Stop now, Paul," Sam murmured like a sing-song lullaby.

Paul's body seized in his hands like he'd grounded a lightning strike.

With a lazy relish and a feral cock of his head, Sam's gaze washed over the fear inflating Paul's eyes. Without a word, he pulled back an open hand and slapped him across the room with a thunderous crack.

Paul's big body crashed through the wall beside the kitchen, shaking the house to its foundation while plaster sifted down over him like snow.

Bella scrambled up to her feet only to pitch back down to the floor and painfully face first into his chest. "Paul," she cried, pushing off him and fisting her hands in his shirt.

Bloodshot eyes blinked open, before they snapped out beyond her.

Bella turned over her shoulder to the sight of their Alpha stalking them with murder solidified, slick and clammy, behind inhuman eyes.

"No, please," she gasped, throwing herself backwards over him and splaying out her hands. "You promised!"

Sam's feet stopped, but not a single emotion flickered on his face.

Bella's jagged breath ripped through the ensuing silence like a box cutter. Her eyes darted out to Jacob, frozen and afraid to move a muscle lest it disturb the precarious balance of life and death hanging in the air.

"I quit," Paul hissed behind her.

She shrieked in surprise as he pushed up under her, dragging her with him to his feet. Callous black eyes slipped up over her head to her husband.

"Y'know what?" Paul laughed hatefully. "You want her? Take her!" He shoved Bella across the room with untempered strength.

Sam caught her in steady hands.

"Never wanted her anyway."

Weak useless tears sprang to her eyes as she frantically craned over her shoulder at Paul shoving his hands back through his hair. With a disgusted shake of his head, he stalked toward the door, kicking a piece of the broken coffee table out of his way.

The hated yank of the imprint dragged her eyes along after him.

As he passed, Jacob pushed off the wall with flash of feral teeth.

Paul laughed and then spat on the ground with goading gall pulling a snarl from Jacob.

And not a single sound from Sam.

Trying to find her balance in the midst of a vertigo so violent that she wanted to puke, she tried to wiggle free from his grip as big fat tears rolled down her throbbing face.

Sam didn't let her go. A careful hand slipped along her jaw, coaxing her head up. Bella kept her eyes lowered while his fingertips gingerly explored the damage. She bit her lip against all-out sobs as he bent down and took a long quiet inhale at her temple.

Then he straightened.

Traumatized breath hitching in her throat, Bella's eyes darted up anxiously to see Sam watching Jacob approach.

He turned back and looked down at her with dispassionate eyes. "Wash off his scent," he intoned in that obsidian bass. His mouth still wasn't human and his lips flashed lingering canine points to his teeth. "And then finish packing."

Pushing her firmly back into Jacob's arms, Sam turned and strode out of the house.

'

'

Bella sat up in the single bed in Sam's guest room and scanned her surroundings with bleary eyes. Her head was pounding along with her heart. More than anything she just wanted to forget everything – but apparently even a few blessed hours of dreamless oblivion wasn't in her future.

She reached over to the night stand and clicked on her cell: 12:30 am… and several texts past midnight.

She numbly pulled the device into her lap and scrolled through them. They were a few final messages back and forth between Jacob and Embry and their friends on Angela's false alarm. She was spending the night at the clinic just to make sure. Jared and Kim were babysitting Cody and they'd sent out a few humorous messages about how it was challenging practice for their second only months away.

Bella knew the repartee was partially staged for her benefit, but still it was comforting all the same. She was sure the news had made the rounds already and her Pack was reaching out in their own way.

With a sigh, she rubbed her face and then flinched at the tender bruise spreading over the entire left side of her face. With shapeshifter strength she was lucky her cheekbone hadn't shattered.

With a sigh, she lowered her feet to the cool wooden floor and crossed the room toward the window. It was a clear night in contrast to yesterday, and the full moon frosted the tops of the trees.

After a few moments of contemplating the quiet midnight, she turned aimlessly around to "her" room. Cozy and comfortable, Jacob had helped her move her few things into the guest room this afternoon. He'd sat on her bed and silently watched her stow away her things, visibly flinching every time she turned her left cheek his way. If it was surreal to see his battered childhood friend putting her things away in his Alpha's house - her scent clearly advertising where she'd spent the night - he didn't mention it.

In fact, neither of them could find a single word to say.

But, like the true friend he was, Jacob had stood beside her, offering his unassuming presence until she'd chased him away with threats about what Malia would do if he missed dinner.

With another shudder in one of Jake's old shirts she'd had since high school and her favorite night gown, Bella wrapped her arms around herself and drifted toward her door. She unlocked the bolt with a snick and then wondered why she'd bothered; Sam probably had the key.

With that thought, she paused on the threshold, staring down to her left and the open door at the end of the hall. The moonlight spilled over the floor of Sam's empty room in a blue waffle imprint from the window. She hadn't seen him once after the altercation at her house.

With no particular agenda or plan, she wandered slowly down the stairs to the soft light of a dwindling snapping fire in hearth. Sam had obviously been here sometime this evening – Bella hadn't left her room except to walk Jacob to the door.

Wrapping her arms around her middle she shuffled through the living room and into the kitchen whose bank of windows and skylights poured moonlight over the kitchen like cream. Drawn by flickers outside, she padded on bare feet toward the back door and peered out the window. The yard was dark with a few late summer fireflies winking and floating like fairies. If only her romantic childhood fantasies were real along with all the nightmares.

With a sniff, she turned the knob and pulled the door open. Outside, crickets chirped in the dark, dark wood and she could hear the peeping frogs down by the stream. A soft wind whispered over the trees, rustling leaves and teasing her hair and Bella sighed along with it.

It was peaceful here.

Leaning her temple against the door frame, she traced an idle finger over the screen while she soaked up the serenity of the moment like a starving woman. Because she was. Sam was right: she needed a home and place to heal. The problem was, she didn't know if this could ever be either.

As if on cue, a flash of yellow made her head snap up, her poor beleaguered heart lunging against her ribs in a pitiful attempt at flight.

She blinked and two of the fireflies did the same.

Bella pressed her lips together, taking a step back into the house as an inky shadow coalesced into the form of a huge black wolf on the edge of the lawn. The beast stole across the grass like an apparition, the moon painting a Halloween sheen on its sleek pelt and its eyes glowing with supernatural incandescence while they watched her with the same intensity their owner had in his skin.

The boys never allowed their other form around humans unless absolutely necessary, but now that she knew what she did about Sam's past, she understood: they didn't trust them.

And honestly, this hulking creature with a disturbing gamy gait didn't really do much to inspire trust or any human emotion other than fear. It moved all wrong: gobbling up the ground with a savage grace that left no doubt that it was a predator and a merciless one at that.

Just like Sam.

But whether it was because her fight-or-flight had tapped out or she simply didn't care anymore, Bella stood still and watched its approach.

The wolf slunk to the foot of the stairs only 15 feet away and closer than she'd ever been any of them. She could see the ferocity in animal eyes and the soft puffs of steam from heated breath condensing in the cool evening air. It lifted its snout to the breeze and took an audible whiff.

While Bella watched, terrified and fascinated at the same time, the beast started up the stairs and then reared up on its haunches, transforming seamlessly into the shape of a man with the next lissome step up the flight.

Bella swallowed thickly at the sight of those same feral eyes, now set in that inscrutable mask. But her gaze couldn't help but wander: Sam's hair was loose and flowing over powerful shoulders, the soft moonlight crystalizing on his skin and folding into shadow with the harsh cut of his musculature.

He looked dangerous and beautiful and wild.

Her body reacted instantly with a rush of heat that yanked on the cable buried in the raw swollen quick of her heart. Hand slipping absently over her chest, she turned her back on him and took several steps across the kitchen while confusion welled up with the pain and feelings she didn't understand. She was nothing but a bruised and broken mess and she wasn't sure she'd be able to put the pieces back this time.

The hinges of the screen groaned behind her and she squeezed each elbow with a cold hand, wondering what he would do.

He did nothing.

The wind whispered through the leaves and wordless minutes were counted by the crickets in the yard. She could feel him standing right behind her, his warmth soaking through the worn cotton of her shirt and into her starving skin. The scent of him, the soft whisper of each breath, the silence… it made her want to turn around and throw her arms around him, begging him to drown her in heat. She craved his hot hard mouth and the way his body made hers forget the pain.

But yet today she'd also seen the violence he doled out just a little too easily. She'd watched him shove two men up against death's door without a shred of hesitation or remorse.

"I don't know who you are," she whispered.

For a moment, even the crickets seemed at a loss for words, then two warm palms slipped over her shoulders making a shiver shimmer down her spine. Those hands ghosted down her arms and over the bruises left by Paul's grip, drawing chills and trauma from her skin and buffing them away with calloused care.

Just his touch made the latent embers in her belly flare to life and her body's need burst into licking flame. She gasped quietly at the jagged pain through her heart.

Careful hands gathered her hair and then released it over one shoulder to fall down over her breast, raising a wanting nipple. Then moist silk pressed against the side of her neck in a delicate kiss that crinkled in the darkness. His hot breath spilled over her skin and Bella closed her eyes as they rolled under their lids and tipped her head in sensual surrender.

He felt so good.

So incredibly good that she could that forget the pain in this longing. Every brush over her skin, felt like a caress as he urged her around with patient hands. With her eyes closed, she could pretend it was love.

She heard a hiss skate over his lips and then her jaw was cradled in palms that tipped her head up farther. His breath fanned over her face ferrying gossamer words that were barely audible with it. "I'm sorry."

Bella's eyes popped open to the yawning midnight of his soul. Holding her face still in a petal touch, he leaned down and breathed a kiss over her swollen cheek. And then another and another.

Bella's eyes drifted closed again as she melted in his hands while he whispered kisses over every pore.

Finally his lips settled against hers, sweet and soft. With a luxuriant patience, he massaged the tightness in her chest with lazy caresses of his mouth that made her nerves sparkle and sputter.

"Stay with me tonight," he whispered so quietly over her lips that they could both pretend he hadn't said it.

Bella's arms slipped up around his neck and her body wordlessly answered, arching into his embrace.

Their mouths continued silent negotiations, as Sam drew her into his arms and carried her up the stairs.

'

'

_Three weeks later._

"All my girls, barefoot in the kitchen," Jacob chuckled richly as he strode into the room with lipping nibbles on his two year old daughter Raven's foot. She giggled and wiggled in his arms.

Malia and Bella exchanged good natured eye-rolls from where they were doing the last frenetic preparations for dinner.

After a few false starts, Angela had finally had her baby, and a week late at that. The entire Pack was over at Jacob's house for the celebration so the poor sleep-deprived Calls could go home to peace when they wanted. The Pack was notorious for hanging around into the wee hours invited or not.

"Are the coals ready Tarzan?" Malia snorted with an eyebrow wiggle at her daughter.

Jacob bellowed out a goofy yodel - that wasn't half bad - and Raven burst into hysterics. Chuckling at his daughter, he leaned over and kissed his imprint on the cheek. "Sure are, Jane."

She turned into him and coaxed a little more from his lips. Pulling back when she'd properly gotten him back, she laughed at his dopey smile. "Where's Liam?" she arched a brow

"Brady n' Jose are keeping him busy until mama's ready," Jacob grinned. It was about half an hour past his feeding time.

Bella opened the oven door and pulled out the first tray of yeasty rolls. "Go feed him, Mal," she frowned at her friend. "I've got this."

Bella reached in to get the second and third tray of rolls.

"Can you put the steaks on, Jay?" Malia asked.

Turning off the stove, Bella shimmied off the Penguin oven mitt and turned around.

Jacob met her gaze with a glance at his daughter and raise of his brow.

Bella smiled and held out her arms.

"You wanna go with Auntie Bells?" Jacob jostled the toddler who was looking like she was teetering on the edges of bedtime and a meltdown.

"C'mon Rae-Rae," Bella grinned wiggling her fingers.

"Annie!" the child reached out with pudgy arms. The Pack took care of each other's kids like their own but Bella was her favorite auntie. It made her feel good.

Jacob let the toddler down into Bella's arms with a kiss on both of their cheeks and then shimmied around the cramped quarters to grab the tray of marinating meats.

"Kim brought her potato salad, right?" Malia checked as she washed her hands in the sink.

"Yup and Claire just got here with the pies," Jacob lifted the tray up over the two women's heads as he ferried it toward the boisterous party out on the lawn. Malia and Bella had hung Christmas lights around the back yard and Leah's imprint had brought his DJ speakers along with the perfect laid-back summertime jams.

"Want to go dance?" Bella asked Raven. She was a pretty little thing with Jacob's coloring and Malia's green almond eyes.

She nodded, fisting her little hands in Bella's hair and they followed after Jacob out on the lawn. From the younger rambunctious pups playing a raucous game of football to the imprinted wolves hanging out in lawn chairs and splayed out on blankets, the scene painted the perfect picture of family and Pack.

Bella skirted around the outside edges toward where Angela was lounging in a chair beside her husband. Embry had that adorable new-daddy glow while he unabashedly babbled animatedly to their little girl.

"Hey girl," Angela caught her eye. "Are you doin' okay?"

Bella nodded with a small smile. She was: she was doing _okay_, and not much better than that. But even okay seemed like a miracle in context of the last few years.

It had been a little over three weeks and Paul hadn't come back. Jacob said he was running out of range and trying to break off from the Pack. Bella hoped and prayed every day that he could break ties with this past and maybe start things anew.

Bella was trying to do the same. She kept herself busy by day: school had started back up and when she wasn't working she was usually helping Angela or Malia with the kids. Then, when the sun went down, she'd go back to Sam's house and start her other life.

She made dinner every night because she wanted to. Sam showed up like clockwork at 7:00pm every night, she supposed because he wanted to too. There was something comforting about eating with him, stoic and silent, across the table. Then after dinner, he'd do the dishes while she sat on the counter and kicked her feet, watching him while she waited for the next one to dry and stack at her side.

Whether it was healing trauma, loneliness or something else, Bella found herself in his bed every night. Finally she gave up the pretense of sleeping down the hall.

They barely ever spoke, but their bodies conversed all night long. Yet like a dream, every morning he'd be gone and Bella would wake up to the day.

It was a strange arrangement but for a while it seemed to work; it gave her the space to get her head together and kept her warm at night. But more and more she found herself wondering what he might be doing in the lulls of her day when her mind was free to wander.

Like now.

Raven's little hands tugged on her hair to get her attention. "Moosick," she reminded her soberly.

Bella nodded and started bouncing back and forth to the low key Reggae beat. The girl smiled and put her head down on Bella's shoulder – she gave the child about ten minutes before she was out.

Angela offered her a knowing smile.

Bella swayed and rocked the toddler while she watched all her friends living out their lives: Leah cozied up to Josiah, Jared and Kim, Quil and Claire, Jen and Collin, Brady and his imprint Jose. Everyone from her age group was paired off. Bella used to be.

Sniffing a laugh at herself, she smoothed dark curls back from a little face and the toddler's heavy-lidded eyes blinked slowly.

But Bella felt the tingle before she consciously processed what it was. A second later every lupine head snapped down the drive and silence swept over the lawn like a wave. Even the kids seemed to sense the tension and Raven picked her head up with wide eyes.

"Shh," Bella soothed the girl, bouncing her faster even as Josiah lopped the music off in the middle of a song. The younger boys instantly dropped the ball and hustled to fill in the spaces among the rest of their Pack scattered across the lawn.

Embry handed Angela the baby and stood up, his face going from paternal to protective in a second flat.

All the mates seemed to pull closer together and Bella felt distinctly alone as she took a step back and glanced uneasily at Jacob. With Malia at his side near the barbeque by the house, he was watching her with serious eyes.

Heads bowing, all eyes hit the ground as Sam appeared down the gravel driveway without a sound or a pause in his mercury stride. Bella tipped her chin down too while she continued to rock Raven soothingly back and forth on her hip.

But she couldn't help but watch him from under her lashes. Wolves peeled back from his direct intercept of the newest addition to his Pack and hard eyes, bare chest and shoulders squared he stalked through the wreckage of their party.

His eyes washed over Bella, lingering just a second before darting to where Embry stood guard over his wife and child.

Sam ignored him. Like they'd grown accustomed to by now, he went down on one knee before mother and child, murmuring ceremonial Quileute in deep autumn tones. Bella didn't have to guess how that hand was, resting on their infant's delicate head, she knew it for a fact: gentle.

Every night his hands were always the same.

Congealing back to his feet, Sam whispered his requisite terse "congratulations," and then turned on his heel.

But instead of taking the same way back through his silent Pack, he made a crisp determined beeline for Bella. Her eyes feverishly hit the ground as she instinctively angled the child out of harm's way.

Like those years ago, his bare feet stopped right in her field of vision, no more than half a meter away from her own curling toes. Her breath burst over parted lips as his familiar fingers slipped under her chin.

Sam tipped her face all the way up to his 6'6" and silent secretive eyes.

Two worlds collided in a single combustible instant: their Pack's Alpha and the lover whose bed she shared every night.

Holding her captive in stoic eyes, his hand slowly lowered back to his side pointedly leaving her face tipped up to his.

Even a child could feel the intensity that crackled in the air and a long wail of fear rose up from the toddler on her hip.

Bella turned to reassure her with wordless murmurs as she pulled her head down soothingly to her shoulder. Raven instantly quieted, but when Bella looked back up Sam was already halfway across the lawn with that long fluid gait.

But now a different sort of silence had settled over the lawn and turning back in confusion, she caught the furtive stray gazes cast her way from under bowed heads. Eyes scurried away from her gaze as a painful reminder of just how worlds collided for the Pack in Bella too.

A blush charging to her cheeks, Bella strode forward and handed Embry his niece and then turned and nearly ran to the house. Tearing open Jacob's screen door, she threw herself into the safety of his living room while behind her cautious conversation ventured forth and the music launched into another song.

Hanging her head in her hands for a moment, Bella tried to get her bearings. Inside she was a still a knotted twisted mess and distraction seemed to be the best medicine these days.

Rubbing her cheeks briskly, she headed for the kitchen and the piles of collateral dirty dishes. Jerking on the water, she submerged her turmoil in warm water and soap.

The wolf that entered the house five minutes later made a point of making noise. Even without supernatural senses she he knew exactly who it was.

"You okay, Bells?" Jacob's dusky voice wound around her.

She bowed her head for a moment, pressing her lips over the pressure and then silently nodded. She kepted her eyes trained carefully on the dish she ran under the spray.

It was a lie, but Jacob didn't call her on it. He edged up beside her and leaned back against the counter.

Bella glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. Arms crossed over his chest, he was staring out across the room lost in his own thoughts.

Adjusting the water so it was a little warmer, she returned her attention to the plate in her hand and for several minutes they stood wordlessly side by side.

"Y'know, I talked to Jared," he began quietly.

Bella glanced at him again to find him still focused on the thoughts behind his eyes.

"I don't remember much about those first few months," he sniffed. "After the Phase, it was overwhelming – all the sounds, smells."

Setting the dish in the rack, Bella quickly picked up a spatula. She didn't want to guess where he was going with this. She'd had one uncomfortable conversation with Jacob weeks ago when she told him what had happened that day with Paul at her house.

Jacob sucked in a breath and turned toward her. "But he said Paul was right."

Bella blinked rapidly keeping her eyes focused on where her hand seemed to rinse off the utensil in slow motion.

"He said before Sam got his control down, he thought about you a lot," he said carefully. "Ever since he found you in the woods."

Bella swallowed thickly as her numb fingers stilled on their prop. For several seconds, she watched the column of water pour from the faucet and dance over the dishes in the big old porcelain sink.

"He said Paul and him used to joke that watching me," he whispered. "Was really about watching you."

Bella bit her lip hard, just to feel the pain. Pain was a punishment befitting the guilty pleasure.

With a sniffle, she wiped her nose with the back of her wrist as she turned to him. "Why didn't anyone tell me?"

Jacob shook his head slowly as he reached over and smeared some soap from her cheek. "It was a long time ago," he mused quietly. "They forgot, he Pushed them? His mind's been a steel trap since I Phased."

_Paul_ hadn't forgotten… obviously. She felt irrationally guilty that maybe it had made a difficult situation worse, but only because she hoped-…

"How are things going, Bells?" Jacob asked her cryptically.

Her gaze darted back up from where it had fallen into the sink. "They're okay," she whispered.

There were a thousand thoughts behind her best friend's eyes and they ticked under his skin in just as many latent expressions. Finally he nodded, even though he wanted to ask her more.

Truthfully, she didn't know if she'd tell him, even if she had any idea herself; right now she felt like she held the reins of a runaway roller coaster and was barely hanging on.

Jacob licked his lips. "Do you think you could be happy-…" he raised his brow leaving the sentence trundling off into places she didn't dare follow.

She sniffed a laugh with a ragdoll shrug of one shoulder. She didn't know if happiness was in her cards, but at the moment she was okay and it was better than where she'd been. She had everything she needed: a job, friends, a house and routine. No one yelled and the touches were kind.

Jacob surprised her when he reached over her and turned off the water. Scooting in a little closer, he turned her toward him with caring hands. Patient, giving, kind: she loved Jacob's hands.

And suddenly she knew what they were trying to say as he brushed them over her cheekbone. She searched his warm brown eyes for a moment, just to be sure.

Jacob tipped his head with a sad smile and tucked her hair tenderly behind her ear.

"I'm pregnant," she whispered.

Jacob nodded slowly as he drew her into his arms. "Yeah honey, you are."

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_Review if you like._


	4. Intermission

_Thank you for the kind notes. I always love hearing what you have to say – it's so interesting! Sorry for not hitting back, I was writing…_

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Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy.

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**Intermission**

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The bed dipped and Bella burrowed more into the pillow.

To the sound of whispering sheets and quiet breaths, a big body curled around her, swaddling her with warmth. Her bare toes went lazily in search of the comforting grounding of a familiar calf.

With scruffing callouses, a big hand skimmed over the bare skin of her arm until it was diving between the mattress and her side and its arm was soundly wrapped around her.

"Mmm," Bella sighed softly, nestling back into the solid heat.

Dreams continued to skitter and swirl over consciousness like skipping stones until she floated up and broke the surface.

Heavy lids blinked open to the intimate light of pre-dawn.

As sleep evaporated away from awareness, she basked for a moment in the quiet space between dream and all the worries of reality. Sam's breath was even and slow, leaching moist hot air into her hair. He always slept with his face pressed into the nape of her neck but she didn't usually have the luxury of waking up to him. By morning he was always gone.

Bella stole a few more moments of it and relished the feel of being engulfed in heat, a heavy arm draped over her side and anchored firmly by the hand under her ribs.

He'd left their bed to run patrols at midnight when a long haunting howl had slithered through the darkness. He must have just come back to steal an hour of sleep before the day began. It just happened to coincide with the perfect trough in her sleep cycle to rouse her.

But unfortunately, as slumber fell away, her a lethargic body also woke to the way it was feeling these days in the morning. Bella's stomach primed itself with a few bucks before it turned over, sending a wave of nausea rushing up her throat.

Clapping her hand over her mouth, Bella tried to shimmy free, but that heavy arm didn't budge an inch. With another desperate wiggle Sam woke enough to release her and she was scooting off the bed.

Slamming the door behind her, she dove for the toilet and wretched a rather unimpressive trickle of liquid. Collapsing on the cold tile, while her stomach continued to complain and spasm, she propped one forearm against the porcelain while she fumbled with her hair.

She'd been lucky, she supposed. She had left her first trimester blissfully without any problems with morning sickness, but every day of this 14th week she'd woken up feeling queasy.

The pregnancy was starting to become impossible to ignore.

The regular symptoms of sensitive breasts, fatigue and bloating were similar enough to PMS that she could write them off, but being thin to begin with, she was really starting to show now. She couldn't button _or_ zip her jeans anymore and none of her bras fit.

It was a little bit frightening.

Unlike most first-time mothers, Bella didn't borrow books or troll mommy websites or spend hours shopping online - she tried her hardest to keep everything "business as usual." There'd been so little of this precious calm and predictability over the last six years.

Oh, she made sure she ate well and went to the doctor, but other than that, for two days shy of four months she had valiantly procrastinated having to deal with the fact that she was pregnant.

That she was pregnant with their _Alpha's_ _child_.

Jake and Mal, Ange and Emb, Kim and Jare – all her close friends took her cue, and didn't ask how she was feeling or blab about everything baby, but she'd catch their worried glances and subtle attempts to get her to rest. She'd barely seen the rest of the Pack over the last few weeks or so. Actually – truth be told – she avoided them like the plague.

Because it was getting ridiculous.

At first she'd thought those uncomfortable silences and covert stares from under bowed heads were the results of behind-the-back whispers and sanctimonious judgment, but both Jacob _and_ Embry had assured her – on several occasions – that they weren't.

Apparently she now smelled like the Alpha's mate and no matter how the human saw her, the wolf saw her as second in command. Add in that she now smelled like the very _pregnant_ Alpha's mate, and it was safe to say that Bella singlehandedly threw the entire Pack into instinctual pandemonium.

The combination of rank and jacked-up lupine protective overdrive made things volatile and _uncomfortable_ for them all in human skin. They all wanted to protect her, to touch her and particularly the younger wolves - with raw instinct and juvenile control - didn't handle it well. They'd break out in fights over something stupid like holding the door or follow her around like puppies in the grocery store, smother her in exuberant hugs or pull her into their laps when she was passing by. With each week it just intensified until Bella simply avoided them all together.

It wasn't very easy to feign "business as usual" when it was nothing but.

Gasping, Bella let her head flop back as she flushed the toilet and took a moment to gather herself. Bracing her hands against the basin, she pushed up to her feet and stumbled to the sink and turned the water on.

She twisted her hair back and splashed her face, then watching the water run, she numbly brushed her teeth while she tried to let her stomach settle.

Rinsing out her mouth, she put the toothbrush back in the cabinet. But as she closed the door, she caught her reflection in the mirror.

It made her pause.

Two days shy of four months ago, she'd looked into this mirror and there was little similarity between the two reflections.

The woman staring back at her looked healthy now. Maybe even settled. She looked a little tired, but her face was no longer gaunt and there was a healthy glow to her skin. She knew that other people noticed too. Every time her father saw her he said something – he was so ecstatic that she'd left Paul, he didn't ask her once why she was living with Sam. He could see that she was healthier. That she was better.

It seemed unfair that just as she was getting her feet on the ground, the rug was going to be ripped back out from under her.

But it was, and she needed to face it.

"You're pregnant," she whispered to the woman staring back. "In five months you're going to have a _baby_."

She watched her own eyes unconsciously widen at just hearing the words out loud.

Bella was scared.

She knew Angela and Malia had been dying to jump in with advice and support and that Kim would be happy to hang out and tell her exactly what to expect, being only two weeks from giving birth herself. Like a champ, Jacob had taken her to her two first trimester appointments and she knew Malia would happily tag along to her upcoming ultrasound.

But it wasn't the same.

Bella had always imagined doing this _with_ someone. Someone like the baby's father.

Like all the supernatural noses in the Pack, Sam had known before she did, but he hadn't said a word about the pregnancy. He barely said anything anyway.

Over the last four months they'd maintained the same routine: silent dinner and dishes and then sultry nights with maybe a passionate whispered word or two. Sometimes they would sit down on the couch in front of the fire after dinner. She'd lean her head on his thigh and read her kindle while he stared silently into the flames. But other than that they had separate lives.

Sam had said she could choose how she wanted to live. More and more Bella was trying to decide. But before she could answer that questions she needed to ask another. And it was a prospect even more terrifying than this pregnancy.

Bella hung her head for a moment and her eyes naturally fell down to her belly just starting to bulge against her oversized sleep shirt. She brought a palm to her stomach and then smoothed the material down over the growing swell below her navel.

With a sniff, she rested the heels of her hands on each hipbone and then closed her fingers over the solid bump between them, cradling it.

Her baby.

Sam's baby.

A wash adrenaline made her heart skip a beat.

Slipping a palm down under her belly, Bella opened the bathroom door while she tried swim through the surrealism of it to some kind of solid ground. Her eyes unabashedly washed over her stomach as she walked out into the room – really trying to let it all sink in.

The first blush of dawn gave the room a soft rosy glow and Bella's eyes swept up to the window-…

And froze.

Her hands slipped to her sides as her eyes cut to the surprising figure in her periphery. Sam was sitting on the edge of the mattress with his forearms propped on each thigh.

Watching her.

Bella pulled her lip into her mouth uncomfortably and those silent eyes slipped down to the floor between his feet.

He was always gone before dawn.

Confused, she wrapped her arms around herself and watched him for a moment. He was dressed only in cutoffs and his hair hung in a shiny braid over one broad shoulder like he was on his way out to… wherever he went.

But his posture was thoughtful, almost melancholy. Head tipped down to the ground, he was braced over his lap and staring at the carpet, his fingers resting together between his knees.

Bella licked her lips. "I didn't expect you to be here," she whispered. "Did everything go okay last night?"

Sam nodded imperceptibly to the floor.

Bella worried her lip for a moment; the silence was awkward. She had no idea what to say to him outside of their everyday routine.

Drawing in a brusque breath, she turned toward the window and started toward it, distracting herself with the dawn. "Are you on your way out?" she asked breezily.

Stopping at the sill, she peered out over the woods. Mist was just starting to rise and it hung, moody and ethereal, over the lawn catching the early light.

When he didn't answer, she turned over her shoulder.

To find him watching her.

Bella raised a prompting brow.

Sam drew in an audible breath and slowly sat back. "Do you want me to leave?" That soft bass was the perfect soundtrack for the dawn outside.

For a second she was distracted by his hypnotic voice – she loved the sound of it – but the words finally hit her ear. That innocent little question was the root of many things and it promptly turned her world upside down and shook it hard.

_What did she want?_

Flustered, Bella blinked at him for a moment before she shifted on her feet. "Um, I-," she stammered. "I want you to leave if you want to -…"

Sam tipped his head, watching her from behind that stoic mask. "That's not what I asked."

Bella felt like a deer in headlights – she had no idea what to say. Stress burst out in a defensive show of temper.

"I guess it depends," she cocked her head saucily. "Are you going to turn into a pumpkin or something at dawn?" She threw a glance at the window. "I wouldn't know because you're never here. Hell, I don't even know what you do all day," she snorted. "Maybe you have another life across town?"

Her inference was clear… and Sam didn't confirm or deny it with even a hint of a reaction. It made insecurity soar.

She stomped a step toward him as hormones and heartache and years of turmoil conspired against her.

"At least I _knew_ where I stood with Paul," she laughed bitterly. "You eat my food, fuck me all night and then you're gone!"

Sam hadn't moved a muscle but those intense eyes darted rapidly back and forth between her own while her ears finally caught up with her mouth.

She slapped her palms over her face in humiliation. What was wrong with her? Never in her life had she used that word.

"I don't fuck you."

Sam's calm deep voice snapped her face back up. He was now sitting ramrod straight with his shoulders pulled back.

"What is it then?" she rasped. Each day that passed and her belly grew, she needed to know more.

Sam silently returned her stare with shuttered eyes and clearly no answer he was willing to share.

It was infuriating.

"What is it, Sam?!" Bella cried, fear and desperation exploding in an embarrassing display. "What _is it!_ Because _Jake_ said you're an animal more than a man! Jared said you've been watching me forever and _Paul_ said all this time you've just wanted '_my ass,'_" she quoted venomously then her hand flew to her stomach. "I'm carrying your child and I don't know who you are!"

Bella gasped in a breath, straightening from where she'd leaned forward as she vomited out her heart. She blinked back to the present… and the dangerous man across the room.

Sam hadn't moved, but every muscle was taut and straining against his skin. That impervious mask now looked like it had been cast in iron, tense and brittle and bulging from the fire that flickered behind those eyes.

Bella took a few cautionary steps toward the door. "What is it," she hissed, dropping her voice in appeasement, but already in way too deep to go back now. "A dominance thing? _Contest_? Getting him back for something?"

This was the question she'd been agonizing over and asking it was like ripping off a band-aid. Her heart was bleeding freely along with tears from her eyes.

With controlled power making the movement crisp, Sam unfolded to his feet.

Bella backed up so hastily that she hit the door.

He froze, a crease jumping between his brows. "I told you you were safe," he whispered and then promptly turned his back.

Sam rubbed his face with brusque hands and then cracked his neck and Bella forced herself to take a deep breath. She might not know who he was, but she knew who he wasn't.

This man was not Paul.

Her body, however still didn't believe her and had gone on high alert - her heart was racing so fast she was dizzy. Releasing it in a long stream through pursed lips, she tottered to the dresser and steadied herself.

Sam prowled toward the rocking chair with that panther's gait. Ducking gracefully under the eve, he stopped in front of the window and stared out over the wakening day.

For several minutes only fledgling birdsong filled the spaces between them. Then she heard his soft intake of breath.

"Everything I do is for the good of my Pack," he said evenly in that imperious bass. "When the Council asked me to find you in the woods, I knew I was being offered a chance to redeem my failures. I took it – an Alpha must have the confidence of his people to balance the fear." Hands clasped behind his back, his spine was straight and voice impassive like he was reciting a speech. "You were a human, injured by our sworn enemy and I felt protective as is our nature."

Bella was still feeling woozy so she pulled herself up on the dresser and hung her feet over the side.

"You were close with Ephraim's heir and we monitored you as we did Jacob," he drew in a deep breath and settled his shoulders back. "Then Paul imprinted." He paused and it sounded like he licked his lips. "It was my duty to do whatever I could to stabilize him. He was the Pack's best offensive." Sam turned over his shoulder. "After me."

Bella had wrapped her arms protectively around her middle at the unbidden memories that flooded from those days.

Sam seemed to take stock and then turned back around. "When it became clear that Paul's flaws went beyond the scope of an imprint to fix, it was too late." His hand lifted to the window and he dragged an absent finger over the sash. "Though it is my duty to enforce justice, it would have been a poor decision to interfere – as Jacob wanted. Especially with an imprint involved."

Sam's hand fell back to his side. "You would have gone back. Stayed longer." He released a long sigh and his voice dropped low. "You would have seen me as the enemy."

Bella swallowed thickly while she processed. He was right – when Jacob and Embry tried to intervene, it just made her withdraw more into the relationship.

"When you were ready to listen," Sam continued in a quiet silky bass. "I offered you an alternative arrangement, you accepted." He paused and clasped his hands behind his back again while he squared his jaw. "It met your needs and mine and prevented him from coming back."

Bella gaped after him, waiting for more.

Sam gazed out over the lawn and into the breaking day, obviously finished.

Sitting back, she closed her mouth with the click of teeth. It all made perfect sense. Rational, reasonable sense: a contract based on need. So why did it feel so wrong?

And what the hell was she doing feeling anyway?

Closing her eyes, Bella bowed her head as she massaged her temples. And this right here was the crux of the problem: she _did_ have feelings.

_She had feelings for Sam. _

She missed him, looked forward to seeing him, yearned for his touch - was it all just a product of hormones and desperation? Bella suddenly realized just why she had been so terrified of asking this question: she'd _hoped_-…

She looked up to find him standing at the foot of the bed, silent and watching.

He was always watching.

Bella's swallow crinkled in her throat. "That's it? There's nothing more?"

Sam's gaze darted between hers. "What more do you want?" he asked quietly.

Again he threw it back. Her eyes darted off to the side for a moment, as she shook her head in dismay.

"What do _you_ want, Sam?" she returned her gaze to his. Her nose was prickling with the threat of tears. She'd started daring to hope… she'd started fooling herself…

"I've already told you," he murmured.

Burning tears surged into her eyes and she tried to push them back. "Everything for the good of the Pack," she barked a soggy laugh with a roll of her eyes.

"What do you want, Bella?"

Gulping down a sob, her watery eyes met his. "Conversation," she hiccupped. "Friendship... _feelings_...?"

Sam's eyes lingered on her a moment longer and then they slipped to the floor, tipping his chin down with them.

"Jacob was right," he whispered. "I-I've forgotten-..."

The stutter was what got her attention - the first imperfect chink she'd seen in an impermeable armor. And it told her there was something else underneath.

Bella blinked her eyes free of tears so she could study him closer, just to make sure. Chin tipped down slightly, his face was a blank slate and his eyes rested on the floor. They were unfocused, maybe just a little bit confused.

Sniffling Bella wiped her nose with the back of her hand. "You've forgotten?" she asked, watching him carefully.

Sam looked up, his eyes snapping into focus like he'd forgotten she was there. "Yes."

Bella tipped her head with a thoughtful purse of her lips. And then she slipped down to the floor.

Sam watched her approach with impassive eyes but he subtly squared that proud jaw when she stopped in front of him, tipping her head all the way back.

He stood still and silent while she took her time, blatantly studying him. Golden light was warming the room now and she realized it was one of the few times she'd seen him since this began in full-on day.

Bella cocked her head with a thoughtful furrow to her brow. The sun glinted off those hard eyes, deepened the stalwart lines of his face, slicked down an ebony braid to burnish the unforgiving cut of his musculature making him look like he was cast in bronze. His body was always held at taut attention - a fierce and formidable warrior perpetually lodged in the starting blocks of war. All humanity and emotion had been shucked away from feral power, uncompromising dominion and stone-cold duty.

Without a doubt, Sam was the spitting image of what an Alpha should be.

But yet…

He slept with his face pressed in the nape of her neck. His hands were gentle even in the white-hot throes of passion, his mouth tender.

Watching him, Bella's hands lifted the hem of her shirt and slowly lifted it up, pulling it over her head and shaking out her hair.

She let it drop to the ground beside her. "Touch me."

Sam's brows had raised in surprise.

"Sometimes words don't mean anything," she told him quietly.

She saw the recognition in his eyes.

"Sam, touch me," she whispered.

His hand raised brusquely, as if merely complying with the request, but the single finger that stroked down her cheek was as soft as a whisper.

Eyes locked with hers, he ghosted it over her cheekbone and then followed the line of her face to her jaw. His gaze darted down to his hand as his calloused fingertip slipped up to her mouth and slowly traced the fullness of her lips.

Bella held immaculately still and watched the battle raging in his eyes – by the morning light it was as clear as day. They darted over her face taking an almost frantic inventory while he brushed the backs of his knuckles over her cheek in a contrasting lazy caress.

Like he'd been holding his breath the whole time, suddenly a huff of air burst over his lips and he sat heavily on the bed.

Bella took a step between his knees, watching him.

Both hands slipped up to cup her jaw while his agitated eyes flitted over her face. Suddenly she understood: he'd been fighting for a long time.

Drawing in a breath through his teeth, Sam smoothed her hair back from her face, his gaze doggedly following his hands. He exhaled, long and steady, through his nose and then brushed her long locks over her shoulders, tucking it behind first one ear and then the other.

His eyes caressed over her breasts first, and then a lazy finger followed after. Drawing a wake of chill bumps behind it, it skimmed along the full curve of one side, to her solar plexus. Sam's eyes dropped from his hand and slipped down to her stomach. As if in slow motion, one palm smoothed down her side and then settled over the swell between her hip bones.

And stayed there. One breath. Two.

Bella reached up and brushed her fingertips over his brow and then molded her palm to his cheek.

His eyes pointedly ignored and his hands slipped heavily back to his thighs.

"Sam," she whispered.

He pressed his lips together for a moment and then slowly looked up.

Even set in stone as they were, they were oozing and raw. The pain in them took her breath away.

She gently cupped his jaw in her palms while she cradled his gaze with all the tenderness in her being. He was so strong, so fiercely competent and committed.

So lost.

She smiled sadly. "See," she whispered. "You remember."

Sam's eyes volleyed between hers for several heartbeats. Then he drew her into his arms, slowly lowering his forehead to her shoulder.

Bella's arms encircled those strong shoulders and then rubbed her jaw deliberately back and forth against his in that primal lupine way they seemed to crave, trying to comfort him. In response, a subtle rumble, almost too low for her ear, rose up under hand as she smoothed it between his shoulder blades. It made her happy.

After a moment, Sam drew in a long breath that lifted his shoulders then raised his head. His hands smoothed up her back under her hair and then around to cup her jaw as he leaned in.

Inches away, he paused for several slow breaths, staring first into one eye and then the other. Then he pulled her into him…

And he kissed her.

Sumptuous, luxuriant, it was the press of undeniable tenderness - the lazy, caring caress between lovers tangled up in one another in the morning light.

Reeling, Bella's hands slipped up to either side of his head to try to ground herself. She rode the gentle rock and sway as he tipped his head from one side to the other, assertively siphoning her breath, her taste and scent - all he wanted from her lips.

Bella released it willingly while in her heart, each breath stoked a heat that consumed her heart in a slow burn. It was an aching that went much deeper than the sharp bite of the imprint that crouched like a parasite over her heart.

Finally, with a gasp Sam pulled back, his eyes wide and searching in flagrant contrast to the unshakable confidence of that kiss.

Breathless, Bella stared back at him, with probably much the same expression. She'd wondered over the weeks what his kisses would feel like during the day and now she knew.

And it was frightening.

That pucker jumped between his brows and his eyes darted to where his thumb brushed over her cheek, smearing cool salty wetness across her skin.

Bella pulled back with a sniffle and embarrassed slap against the tears.

He didn't let her go far. Sam's hands slipped down to her hips and urged her around with slow coaxing strokes that made her turn without even knowing it while tears hitched at her breath.

His arms wound around her front, swaddling her against his chest. "Shh," he whispered, leaning up into her ear, his hot breath billowing in her hair. And then he lay back, pulling her down with him.

Startled, Bella's hands snapped to his bulky forearms, but he held her tight as he scooted back onto the bed with several brusque lurches.

Now splayed out over his big body, head pillowed back against his shoulder and legs resting between his, his arms incrementally loosened their hold. Bella stared up at the ceiling and rode the placid balanced rise and fall of his breath. Each wave lulled her anxiety away a little more.

As she relaxed, Sam's hands began brushing over her body, skimming over her breasts and tickling nipples, down her stomach to smooth over the swell of her abdomen, then hips to thighs and up again.

Again and again he ran his hands attentively over her body, soothing her worries, melting away her fear.

With a long sigh, Bella reached up over her head to his face. The first pass found a disoriented finger catching his nostril and he sniffled with a brisk shake of his head. A giggled pounced free as Bella caressed over his face to his silky hair and then tucked her fingers behind the nape of his neck.

Sam's hands smoothed happily up to her full breasts, his big palm cupping them gently.

"Mmm," his human hum dissolved into that low rumble that she could feel more than hear. Then his hands began their rounds again.

Bella closed her eyes to the morning light, forgoing questions and anything else that got in the way of relishing a precious moment of contentment. It was such a gift.

She didn't know how long she lay like this, lost in hypnotic caress of his touch, lulled by his breath, soothed by that low lupine rumble. But the sun had risen high enough that it was peeking through the trees and casting warmth like a shadow over her leg when Sam's hands finally stilled.

"The wolf has always loved your scent," he breathed, the consonants crisp and intimate in her ear. "Ever since that night we found you."

Bella's eyes blinked open, but she didn't dare move lest she break the spell.

"We watched, waited," he continued in that same spider web voice. "For you to heal, for us to get stronger. Then Jacob Phased and I saw everything." His hands gradually restarted their ministrations. "The man wanted you too."

But this time, there was a subtle coiling tension that quivered in his hands. Her arms came warily down from behind his head.

"Paul-…" his breath shattered and he sucked the pieces back in back in and swallowed them down.

"I had to watch him take what was mine and break it," the whisper cracked and sizzled into a hiss. "Over and over again."

His body temperature had jumped at least ten degrees and now his hands were trembling and jerking.

"_And I couldn't kill him_," he ground the words into meal with his molars.

Bella caught a big wrist in each hand.

Sam hashed a breath through his teeth as she brought them down over her stomach and then caressed over the backs of his to thread her fingers with his. His hands curled into fists, capturing them.

For long minutes his breath lurched under her, struggling to find its rhythm again.

While Bella closed her eyes and tried to relax - she tried not to think, not to venture or deduce. She just focused on the warm sun and birdsong, gone from ecstatic to nonchalant as they became acquainted with the day.

Slowly Sam settled enough that his muscles were still but taut but his breath was controlled and even once more. Gradually his fists unfurled and spread over her stomach. He gently bumped her head with his jaw.

Bella opened her eyes as her hands caressed up over his muscular forearms and clung there.

She heard him lick his lips. "I'm a wolf, Bella," the words were barely audible and caught in her hair. His hands started smoothing over her curves again, in unhurried gentle strokes. Her own settled on the bed and she tucked her thumbs in the waistband of his shorts.

"And a wolf is simple," he whispered in cool inky velvet. "We don't share. We take what we want and keep it." His hands smoothed down her hips and then up her inner thighs raising chill bumps.

"We wait for the right time," the words were tranquil and intimate like a lover's whisper.

"And go for the throat every time."

Bella swallowed thickly as her hands left his shorts and lifted again to find his human face – just to make contact. They slipped to either side of his neck, feeling his jumping pulse under her palms.

Sam's hands traveled again to her breasts, taking advantage of the position.

"I told you what I wanted that first night," he murmured, gently kneading their heavy shape and making her nipples bead so hard it pinched. "I want you." he intoned quietly.

He sucked in a long breath through his teeth as one palm slipped down over to mold to the swell of her belly.

"I want you pregnant," he whispered in her ear. "With my power, with my scent, with my child every second of every day so they know you're _mine_."

Bella's breath caught in her throat. Her mind fruitlessly tried to rebel, but her body reacted with a rushing wildfire of want that effortlessly incinerated the pain. Their bodies - their _instincts_... they understood each other much better.

Sam leaned his face into her hair and drew in a long luxuriant breath. "Mmm," he hummed indolently as that rumble awoke in his chest. He carefully slid her off his body, the drag of her skin making her eyes roll in her head.

Settling her on the mattress with strong hands, he rolled over onto his side.

Bella blinked heavy lids open to see his eyes. Black and intense, they gulped her down in one fell blink as he leaned over and pressed his lips to hers.

"I have what I want," he whispered over them. A hand caressed over her breast and rolled a sensitive nipple between gentle fingers.

Bella sucked in his breath with her gasp.

Humming his pleasure, he kissed her again, sweet and slow.

With a delicate smack the kiss popped and spilled her hitching breaths between them.

"If you want him," Sam mouthed the words so close that his lips bushed hers. "You're going to have to find the man."

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_Review if you like._


	5. Part IV - Reine

Thanks so much for the kind notes, faves and follows – I really appreciate them.

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Many thanks to Jacobsgirl007 for the unexpected gift of a lovely banner: sdrvDOTms/16BKdOB

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_Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy. _

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**Part IV – Reine**

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_look it up in French if you're curious_

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"Toby!" Bella snapped, exasperation finally wearing through her patience.

The hulking man-boy in question froze, a stricken expression on his face as it tipped dutifully down to the floor.

Bella caught Angela's grin from across the room and gave her a bland look that only seemed make things funnier. Smothering a laugh, her friend turned back to the counter and diced tomatoes.

Leaving Bella with a huge contrite wolf and a guilty conscience.

Honestly, while Kim's kitchen was roomier than most on the Rez, it wasn't big enough to accommodate food prep and a clumsy boy the size of a refrigerator too.

Actually there wasn't a big enough kitchen in the world. Cooking for Bella was meditative and – she admitted it freely – the only time she turned into a control freak. Things should be done a certain way in the kitchen, that's all there was to it, and Bella's way was the best. Naturally.

Bella released a long sigh as she looked up at the wolf watching her with worried eyes from under his lashes.

"I know you're trying to help," she softened her voice. "But I've got this."

Toby pressed his lips together as his eyes slipped back to the floor.

Bella reached out a hand and skimmed her fingers down his corded arm, soothing him with touch. A hitching hiss skated over his lips.

Poor thing. He was the most recent addition to the Pack – and a shock to them all. Apparently the cycle was starting up again. He'd only had a few months to get used to being a 14-year old in an adult shapeshifter's body.

She slipped her hand into his. "Toby, look at me," she murmured.

The boy's eyes ventured up. "Why don't you go hang in the living room and -.." she glance at where Seth was striding into the room with a shit-eating grin. "See if you can't beat that stupid smile of Seth's face in that poker game, huh?"

The smallest smile crimped his lips as he glanced over his shoulder at his Packmate.

"Are you bugging the Den Mommy again?" Seth chuckled as he pulled Bella into his side, pressing a kiss to her temple and sneaking in a stroke of her belly.

Bella elbowed him humorously in the ribs and Seth snickered unrepentantly and upped the ante with a two-handed rub.

He whistled appreciatively. "This guy's getting _big_."

"That does _not_ help, Seth," Bella snorted, pushing him off.

With a punky little wink, he punched Toby playfully in the shoulder. "C'mon dude," he grinned. "Show me what you got."

Toby cast another glance at Bella and she smiled encouragingly, then the boy turned and trailed after his Packmate, already striding out of the kitchen.

With a sigh, Bella turned back to the counter, an absent hand coming to press over the flutters in her growing belly. She could feel him moving now.

_Him_.

Bella was still getting used to it, but everything was truly becoming real now. Last week at her first ultrasound and 19 weeks, she'd found out for certain that she was having a boy… and had _seen_ him.

A laugh burst over her lips. _Sam's face!_ It had been the first time she'd ever seen that stone-cold control slip.

At her request, Sam had come to the ultrasound appointment with her – though more like a body guard than a father. Sue Clearwater – and Council member - was the only one at the clinic who had seen her these last five months, for obvious reasons. Not only did she care for all the Pack's mates because of their special needs (read: overprotective, snarling fathers), Bella was carrying the Alpha's firstborn. But when Sam had strode into the clinic at her side instead of Jacob, even efficient, no-nonsense Sue had paled as her eyes hit the floor.

He'd stood, stoic and intimidating, in the corner while Sue ran the wand through jelly over her abdomen and tried to keep her hand steady. But that first grainy glimpse of their baby boy had wiped that intensity clear off Sam's face for several of their baby's heartbeats before he could shutter it away again. Awe looked pretty amazing on Sam Uley, even for a moment.

"What?" Angela asked, sidling up to her with a smile.

Bella shook her head and returned to the lasagna she was assembling. "Just remembering Sam at the ultrasound," she chuckled.

Angela nodded with a tight lipped smile and promptly took the first finished tray from Bella's station without another word.

Bella watched her ferry it to the oven.

As she began to embrace her pregnancy over the last month, her friends had gleefully offered support and advice without questions… but they were still uncomfortable talking about Sam. It was clear they still thought of him as the feared and feral authority. And Bella simply as the victim.

But she wasn't a victim anymore – well that was _starting_ to change.

In just four weeks her life had transformed – maybe not dramatically by most people's standards, but it was pretty radical for Bella. That morning with Sam had been a game-changer. She now understood two crucial things: one, she was wanted and had been for a while.

Two, Sam needed her help.

It was enough for Bella to start making those decisions on just how she wanted to live her life. Slowly, she started asking for what she wanted and every time she got it, her confidence increased just a little more.

With fledgling confidence, things with the Pack became much more comfortable very quickly. She'd started asking for what she needed there too – which seemed to fix a whole host of issues. Apparently being "second in command" - and not acting like it - was stressful for the wolf.

She still wasn't used to her power or place, but Bella was a nurturer by nature and it was easier than she would have ever imagined to slip into the role of –as Seth called it – Den Mommy so she focused on their needs instead of her own insecurity. Paul hadn't loved himself enough to be loved, but she was starting to understand that Paul wasn't everyone. The Pack was starving for connection and affection and someone to pull them all together and Bella was glad to be the one to do it.

Being needed was something Bella needed too.

She lay the last noodle on the pan and then ladled sauce over it.

"Hey girl," Malia strode into the kitchen with little Liam bouncing on her hip. "Why don't you take five? Kim needs someone to pry off Jared – she's about ten seconds from a breakdown."

Bella turned over her shoulder with a commiserating roll of her eyes and then turned back to sprinkling cheese generously over the top. She knew it was a ruse to get her to rest, but she didn't mind – she was pretty tired. Plus Jared _had_ been driving Kim bonkers for the last four days she'd been home from the hospital.

Kim had had a very difficult birth with complications and emergency C-section. Thankfully both she and the baby were okay, but she'd spent several days in the hospital.

Yet of the two, Jared just might have been the worse off. Almost losing his mate and then being separated from her and his daughter had almost killed him. He was so close to losing it that Sam had had to Order him to stay away from the hospital and kept him running patrols 24/7. Suffice it to say he hadn't left her side since she was wheeled out of Forks General.

Angela bumped her playfully out of the way. "I'll finish this, sweetie," she cooed with a smile.

"It's pretty much done," Bella dusted her hands off and then headed for the sink.

"So when are you going to have me over for lunch?" she asked suddenly as she threw a little more cheese on and then picked up the pan.

Bella turned, raising a humorous brow.

"You keep bragging about that kitchen," Angela laughed as she opened the oven and slid the tray in with the others.

"I do not," Bella sniffed, squeezing out some soap.

"You don't have to say a thing," her friend countered, closing the door of the oven. "If you saw how your face lights up every time you talk about cooking…"

Bella turned off the water and wiped her hands absently on the towel while she held her friend's gaze and read between the lines. Angela was sensitive and was trying to apologize for her cold shoulder moments earlier, but more importantly she also was taking the brave first steps to crossing the divide between her two lives.

Frankly Bella was stunned.

It must have showed on her face. "It's just so awesome to see you smile," Angela amended softly as she took the two steps to wrap her in a hug.

Pulling back Bella gave her a humorous grin and Angela's gaze washed over her for a moment. "Go, sweetie," she tipped her head toward the door.

With a final glance at the counters and calculation of work left to do, she headed out of the kitchen. Malia was watching from the doorway with a soft smile as she bounce a gurgling Liam on her hip. At 20 weeks, Bella was halfway through to having one of those herself.

"So I was thinking we could set up in the kitchen so we don't have usurp the poker game," Malia fell into step as they made their way down the hall to the sounds of laughing, conversation and Sunday afternoon football.

Jared and Kim had both come from families that had lived off the Rez and were therefore better off than most down here. They'd done a lot of work on this house, extending it and remodeling, and it was the biggest of the bunch – except for Sam's.

_Sam._

Thanks to that pivotal night, she was beginning to understand. He'd been fighting a brutal battle between Alpha dominion and feral instinct - it was no wonder that his heart had been the first to bleed out. But he was still in there.

_If you want him, you're going to have to find the man. _

His words could have been seductive sweet nothings or covert challenge, but underneath the surface Bella could hear the plea. He needed her, though he was too proud to admit it.

Bella needed him too.

"Does that sounds good?"

Bella blinked back into the present and Malia's raised brow. Nibbling her lip, she gave her friend an apologetic squint.

"Liam, she was ignoring us," Malia pouted down to the baby with a humorous jostle. The infant kicked as he stared up at her with big eyes and open mouthed wonder.

Bella giggled. "Sorry, Mal," she wrinkled her nose. "Something about the table-…?"

Malia looked up with a grin. "See, you're as tired as you look," she arched a snide brow. "I was just wondering if you thought there was enough room in the kitchen to set up lunch."

Bella rubbed her face and then pulled the chopstick out from her hair. "Yeah buffet style," she mused. "Then everyone can kind of hang wherever they want to eat- which is probably in front of the TV," she snorted and then put the stick between her teeth as she gathered all the stray hair again into a neat knot.

"Okay, Ange and I'll set it up," Malia nodded. "You go chill."

Bella shoved the chopstick through the knot of hair. "Thanks."

Bella watched her disappear back down the hall. Little interactions like that one reminded her that even her friends thought of her differently now. She wasn't quite sure how it had happened, but everyone in the Pack seemed to instinctively defer to her with even the most mundane decisions. Even when Malia's husband was unofficial Second in the Pack.

Jacob was sort of the Alpha of the human side of things. He kept people in line, mediated quarrels and cheered on self-esteems. He was a natural with that charismatic sun.

Bella's eyes found him in the corner speaking seriously with his brother who was absently rocking his daughter. With Embry's sensitivity and quiet power he kept emotional balance in the Pack and Jacob always took his counsel. It seemed that all of Ephraim's descendants had a unique role to play in leading the Pack.

Bella found it fascinating.

As if she'd called him, Jacob looked up and met her eyes and forced a smile. Whatever they were talking about, it was heavy. They were probably discussing the impending threat of the Denali clan's retaliation, if she had to guess. The rest of the supernatural ears were too occupied to notice:

Jared was driving his wife crazy, Collin – the biggest football fan – was sitting in the easy chair, glued to the huge flat-screen. This was an open combined living and dining room and Seth, Toby and a few others were involved in a _serious_ game of poker at the table. Leah, Brady and their mates were down in the finished basement playroom with the kids watching Dora the Explorer and the twins were running patrols.

"Hey Jare, Kim," she greeted the two as she sat down on the coffee table.

Jared looked up with a blink like he'd forgotten other people existed in the world. He and Kim weren't as emotionally close as Jacob and Embry were to their mates, but they were crazy committed to one another – partially due to their similar spiritual beliefs. And the recent trauma had reawakened that lupine protective streak something fierce.

"Hey, Jare," she repeated with a smile. "Can you go help Ange fill the cooler with drinks and drag it in here?"

He glanced at his imprint and child with covert stress.

"Go on, baby," she soothed.

"I'll be back," he told her as he stood. With a weak smile at Bella he headed for the kitchen.

"I know you will," Kim laughed under her breath.

"He's driving you nuts, huh?" Bella grinned.

"Yeah, but I get it," she readjusted herself on the pillow. "He'll settle down soon."

Bella nodded and her gaze dropped to the infant, sleeping on her chest. "Jasmin's so cute…" she pursed her lips and leaned forward to stroke a tiny fist. "Is Lilly jealous?"

"No, she's really excited to have a sister," Kim murmured, looking down at the baby. "She's just been hyped up because of daddy."

Suddenly Jacob lunged to his feet, Embry following suit, both heads snapping around to the window. At the same time a loud crash came from the kitchen.

"He's here," Jacob hissed as Jared came barreling down the hallway. Malia was hot on his heels soothing an agitated Liam along the way.

Bella jumped up and shuffled back out of the way as he came to stand at his imprint's side.

Someone grabbed the remote and cut the TV making the house so silent that the bright childish music from the cartoon downstairs drifted up through the floor creating horror-film ambiance. Bella scooted back by the wall as Angela came down the hall and stood beside her.

While they waited for their Alpha.

And she waited for Sam.

He wasn't much for words, but Bella discovered he was an excellent listener. When he'd pick her up from school or at dinner or breakfast, she'd just babble on about whatever was on her mind. But when she'd told Sam that she was going to this party and asked him in a roundabout way whether he would come with her, he'd put an end to the conversation with a terse answer that he'd come "when it was time."

Apparently it was time.

With every gaze glued to the door, the hinges on the screen groaned and then the knob was turned with a metallic rattle as even time seemed to stand still at rigid attention. Then door was pushed open and in strode Sam.

All eyes hit the floor.

Except Bella's.

Dressed in his usual cutoffs and nothing more, the winter rain outside slicked his toffee skin and made his muscles seem to swim with each powerful stride.

Sam's gaze immediately found her. As if taking inventory, he did a quick sweep up and down her body before he tipped his chin in greeting or approval, she couldn't be sure.

His face was impassive, eyes intense as he navigated chairs and the table on an intercept for the couch.

"No," Angela breathed beside her.

Bella blinked back into her skin; she had been so consumed by just the sight of him, that she hadn't noticed the soft growl scurrying from the couch.

She turned to see Jared force his head up and step pointedly between his Alpha and his mate.

Not a single reaction disturbed that emotionless mask as Sam unerringly crossed toward him with a fluid stride.

Hands curling into fists, Jared took another step across the room and his lips peeled back from his teeth in shocking insubordination.

This time, the muscles jumped in Sam's face like he was suppressing his own snarl as he stopped less than an arm's reach away. He let the beast peek out of his eyes and they flared with lambent gold and the heated threat of violence.

Like an invisible hand was forcing his head down, Jared's teeth ground audibly against the impulse. Then, like a cord had snapped, he gasped and his gaze tumbled to the ground, pulling his chin down to his chest with it.

Sam's hand fell to his shoulder so heavily that he stumbled.

Licking his lips, Sam leaned slowly in beside his ear. "You are fortunate your Alpha has more control," he murmured, deep and dark and dangerous. "How foolish is it to antagonize a dominant in close quarters with mates and a newborn cub?"

Pulling back, Sam sniffed like he was amused while his eyes washed over Jared's bowed head. Then he released him and Jared staggered back out of his way.

Sam continued the last few steps. With a quick jerk of his hand, the coffee table was out of the way, and he was going down on one knee in front of the couch.

Bella did a brief sweep of the room as Sam murmured formal words over the infant's head. All heads were feverishly bowed, anxious eyes darting up from under lashes and furrowed brows.

Only Jacob kept his head up. He met her gaze with unreadable eyes.

She was beginning to understand. If Jacob and Embry were like big brothers to the Pack and Bella the "den mother," then Sam was undoubtedly the father.

The distant, severe, disciplinarian, father.

She could see it in every face in that room and she didn't know how she'd missed it before: they were starving for his validation.

Jacob's eyes darted away from hers with surprise, and Bella's attention snapped back to the couch and a change in the routine. Sam now had his hand over Kim's head and he was murmuring a similar prayer over her. Eyes closed, she looked frightened.

Then with a gentle stroke of his thumb between her furrowed brows, he stood.

"Congratulations," he announced and then turned on his heel.

He ignored Jared all together, even though he was glancing up from under his bowed head and begging for absolution. Sam stalked through the silence while wolves shifted on their feet as he passed and furtive eyes followed.

Insight clicked like a light bulb and she suddenly understood what all the hatred and resentment was all about: he wasn't meeting their needs. They needed his presence, approval and touch to stay balanced; like a family, they needed more from Sam than just his orders, they needed his humanity too.

Just like she did.

In so many words, Sam had said it hadn't he? _"An Alpha needs the confidence of his people to balance the fear."_ But what he hadn't understood was that they didn't just need the unshakable confidence they had in his leadership, they needed _him_. Otherwise they lost confidence in themselves.

Adrenaline raced through Bella's veins as she realized what she needed to do. He'd all but thrown down the gauntlet, hadn't he? He'd done his fair share of manipulations on her, so he certainly couldn't complain when she did the same, right?

Bella took several steps after him.

"Sam," she called, shocked that her voice was steady and calm even though her insides were roiling.

Across the room, Sam froze with his hand on the screen.

There was a new level of silence like every breath had been sucked in and held as she walked toward him with a relaxed pace – that felt anything but.

When she didn't continue, he turned around, his face remote and impersonal.

Bella fought the urge to cave and held that stony gaze as she made her way around the dinner table. "Why don't you stay?" she asked, stopping about five feet away. "You always like my lasagna." It was true, but it was also an attempt at not only sweetening the deal but humanizing him- for all of them.

He turned all the way around, with a lupine cock of his head like she was something new and curious. She'd asked him casually enough, but she had made it impossible for him to say no: she'd basically challenged him in front of his Pack.

And she could see that he knew it. A brow ticked up in bland acknowledgement.

She smothered a knowing smile as she closed the distance… and took his hand.

It felt like there was a collective gasp, or maybe it was just Sam's soft breath taken through flared nostrils. The skin to skin soothed her – she hoped it did him too.

"C'mon," she murmured, looking up at him with open, encouraging eyes. "I want you to stay with me."

Those inscrutable eyes paced back and forth between hers for a moment and then his chin dipped minutely.

With an unencumbered smile, she tugged him back into a room that was stunned to stone. _One challenge down, a gazillion more to go._

Her gaze darted up to find Angela. Chin tucked she was staring up under her lashes with wide eyes. Bella tipped her chin meaningfully toward the television and her friend hasted to grab the remote from the entertainment center.

Collin scrambled away from the easy chair as she met his eyes and the game came back on, an announcer's voice it seemed to break the spell a little.

Sam lowered himself stiffly into the big chair that was still dwarfed by his bulk, as she glanced around the unsettled room. She caught Jacob's gaze where he was watching her from the corner with a wry smile. She tossed him a wink.

At a sharp tug on her shirt, she turned around to Sam's midnight eyes. His fingers were still pinching her maternity tee like a tether.

With a smile she sat beside him on the armrest and watched the Pack try to pick up their jaws and their place at whatever they had been doing. A much less enthusiastic poker game began again and Jared sat rigidly on the armrest of the sofa by Kim's head. Angela left to the kitchen and Collin sat on the floor in front of the TV. In unspoken agreement, Jacob and Embry left their corner. While Jacob crossed the room, Embry collapsed on the floor beside him with baby in arm – angled so he could keep an eye on Bella and the game at the same time.

Bella glanced back to Sam to see how he was faring; he was watching the television with dispassionate eyes and blatantly ignoring the settling room around him.

Jacob stepped to Malia's side with a reassuring kiss to her forehead. Bella watched him tip his chin toward Sam in request and the silent conversation that came after.

Taking little Liam from her arms, he sat down beside Embry while tossing his wife an encouraging smile.

Poor usually-confident Malia approached them, wide eyes focused myopically on Bella.

Licking her lips her gaze tiptoed to their Alpha – this was probably the first time Malia had ever spoken to him in her life. "Sam, can I get you something to drink?"

Sam's gaze turned to the woman. "Yes, a beer," he replied in that smooth flat bass.

"Thanks, Mal," Bella amended for him.

"Bella?" she raised her brow, looking ridiculously relieved to have gotten those three words over with.

Bella smothered her amusement. "I'm good."

Malia quickly turned and all but ran down the hall.

Bella watched her for a moment, sorry for the stress she was causing her friends but at the same time knowing deep down that it needed to happen.

She turned to where Sam was back to staring stoically at the game.

Her gaze washed over his face for a moment – overtly studying him. He seemed to be taking this like he took anything: without fear or hesitation. He was a warrior in all things. Even an uncomfortable Sunday afternoon of football with an agitated Pack.

She reached up a hand and smoothed a lingering drop of water from his brow.

Black eyes snapped up to hers and she gave him a slow smile. "Thank you," she mouthed.

There might have been the subtlest curve of his lips, but she couldn't be sure, as his hand raised up to drag his middle knuckle over her cheek.

Just his touch made her body warm with pleasure – the imprint prickling in its usual complaint. She didn't care. She liked being around him, being touched by him, his voice, his stillness. It was more than enough to compensate.

His lifted a sly brow and this time those lips undeniably curved with just enough of a deliciously suggestive smile, that she knew he was scenting the heat between her legs. He lightly fingered the shell of her ear then his hands brushed back over her hair and crisply snatched the chopstick out of it. He let it fall from his fingers to the floor with a soft clatter.

Bella's hair uncoiled like a snake and went tumbling down her back.

Sam combed lazy fingers through it, separating her curls with slow strokes. Then, watching her eyes, he leaned in, taking a slow pointed breath.

Chill bumps swarmed over her back and she shuddered, making his broad lips hitch up on one side as he sat back in the chair. He brushed a knuckle over her jaw again and then that shadow of a smile promptly evaporated from his lips and he turned to the television.

Suddenly remembering where she was, Bella glanced out to find every eye snatching curious glances. If wolves were anything, they were nosy.

Sam however, ignored them, staring at the television with disinterest, as he continued to idly stroke his fingers through her hair.

Bella decided to follow his lead and turned her attention to the screen and a game she still didn't understand despite countless Sundays watching it.

Malia came down the hallway with the beer, followed by Angela carrying a tray of different kinds of chips and dip. Both women were trying not to stare, but not doing a very good job of it.

Looking kind of like she was offering a piece of meat to a tiger with bare hands, Malia held out the beer.

"Here you go," she forced a wan smile.

Sam barely glanced at her as he took the bottle. "Thank you," he murmured, turning back to the game and tipping it up to his lips. It was an attempt at courtesy and a step in the right direction.

Malia quickly turned away, fleeing for Jacob's side. Bella had never in her life seen her so timid – but then again, Sam could still be intimidating even though she knew him better than anyone in this room.

There was a palpable tension in the air between the nervous Pack and their Alpha sitting for the first time in their social midst, kind of like a lion in a herd of gazelles. But even this was a small victory. Bella chuckled to herself at the metaphor and just the whole situation itself because there was nothing much more to do than that. As far as she could tell, change was painful every single time.

At the sound, Sam didn't look up, but his hand smoothed over the small of her back and then snaked around her, pulling her back against his shoulder as he splayed a possessive palm over her swollen middle.

It felt good. It also felt good to be wanted, to be in the middle of her Pack, to be with Sam – no matter how awkward it was at the moment. Hopefully in time they'd get used to one another, because Bella realized she wanted this: she wanted her life to be whole. She wanted her home, which included her friends…

And she wanted Sam.

Bella slipped an arm around his neck and across his broad shoulder, relishing his warm satin skin while he stared at the television and tipped the beer up for absent mouthfuls every few minutes. But it didn't seem like he was watching the game – she wondered what was going on in that mysterious head.

After a while, Jacob stood and stretched, drawing her attention. With a grin in her direction, he sauntered over to the coffee table and picked up one of the little plates. '

"Mal, you want some chips?" he asked his mate where she was breastfeeding Liam on the floor.

"Sure Jay," she returned, with a nervous glance toward Sam.

This _was_ the most untouched tray of snacks in Pack history, she realized, and Jacob was taking the first steps as example.

"Bells? Sam?" he drawled casually.

Sam's eyes darted to his cousin with a minute shake of his head and then returned to the screen.

"No thanks, Jake," Bella modeled for Sam as she tried to hide her grin. It was like she and her best friend were in this thing together and it was awesome.

A commercial came on and Collin, by far the Pack's most avid football fan, got up and took the few steps to the snacks still in a game-induced daze. When it finally registered that he was only about eight feet from his Alpha, his cringe was almost slapstick.

Bella tucked her head with a feigned a cough as he bravely took a plate of chips anyway and then hustled back to his place.

One by one the Pack started warming up to the idea that they could have their football snacks and keep their heads at the same time – though the poker table cheated and sent Seth as their envoy for a shared plate.

Sam staunchly ignored them, watching the commercials babble by as he drained the rest of his beer. Leaning forward, his hand dragging around her side, he set it on the ground beside his chair. With his eyes trained on the game starting up again, he sat back and brushed an absent hand down her hair.

And so the afternoon settled in.

Eventually the room started to relax – the poker game becoming as animated as the boys coaching the game on the floor. Jared even left Kim's side to sit with them as they alternately groaned or whooped at the TV screen.

Bella sat at Sam's side until half time, while he twisted one of her curls around his finger or alternately rested his hand on her stomach.

But as the smell of lasagna started filling the house and the halftime commercials started up, Bella extracted herself from his embrace with murmurs of kitchen duties. She smothered her smile at the stricken stares from the rest of the room while she strode toward the hall.

Angela joined her from where she sat by a now-sleeping Kim and Malia handed their son to Jacob and followed after.

Bella had expected all kinds of questions and comments or chuckles at one of several comedic moments, but she got none of that. Instead, they talked casually about setting up dinner and their favorite commercials as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened at all. It wasn't just a function of what amazing friends she had, there was a subtle deference – almost distance – that hadn't been there before. There was now a respect that had previously been subverted by their perceived role as protector. It was clear that they still saw her as a friend, but over the course of a single hour they no longer saw her as a victim.

They saw her as their Alpha's mate.

Bella was surprised, but almost more surprised by how easily she adjusted. There was something about it that felt right and comfortable – she couldn't explain it and, frankly, didn't even want to try.

Like old times, they ran out any men who tried to help and thus hone in on their girl time as they laid out the food in the kitchen and cleaned up a little. All while they chatted and laughed freely together in a way they hadn't done since that first year.

They always fed the kids first before the stampede and Bella took on the task. She returned to the living room on her way to call them up from downstairs. Luckily there'd been no bloodshed in her absence.

"How are you feeling, honey?" she asked a groggy Kim while she smoothed her hand over her forehead. She was looking a lot better after her nap; there was color in her cheeks now.

Kim nodded with a smile. "I'm good - actually pretty hungry."

"We'll make you a plate with the kiddos," Bell a grinned and then glanced up at Sam.

He was watching her like a hawk with those intense, unreadable eyes from where he sat like a king on his throne, his elbows on the armrests, posture taut and proud, even at rest.

Bella offered him a small smile – he _was_ incredibly intimidating from this perspective. _She preferred up close and personal._

With a private smile at how naughty that both sounded and was, she wove through wolves glued to a last quarter play.

"Lunch!" she yelled down the stairs.

She was answered by a communal toddler cry of glee. Bella chuckled to herself as she went to pull the coffee table out away from the couch so the kids could eat at it. She shoved and kicked at wolves who were in the way, the two daddies with babies in arms, absently standing while they gaped at men slapping butts and then throwing each other down with grunts.

Bella really didn't understand what the big deal was with football.

She carried the decimated tray of chips and dip back to the kitchen where Angela and Malia were getting ready and then returned to the living room.

All three toddlers had frozen on their way to the kitchen and were staring at the man in the easy chair.

Sam was ignoring them, of course.

"C'mon guys," Bella urged as Brady came up the stairs followed by Jose.

He took one look at the situation and swept a kid up in each arm, his mate taking the last one in his wake.

Leah and her husband followed after. She stared daggers across the room for a moment until Sam casually met her gaze.

She immediately lowered her eyes – she was no fool – and Josiah did what he did so well.

"C'mon, Boo," he crooned, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "Let's watch the end." He pulled her to a spot and down into his lap and they were immediately under the hypnotic spell of almighty football.

Apparently it was some sort of climax because the poker game had stopped, wolves drawing closer to the television. Jared had come back to sit with his wife and even Kim was glued to the set.

Feeling eyes on her, her gaze darted out to find the only person in the room not enraptured by the last quarter of the game. Sam was watching her. He was always watching.

Bella didn't mind.

He stretched out a silent hand and Bella smiled, weaving through the bodies strewn across the floor. As she passed, irritated heads bobbed back and forth to keep sight of the TV like there was no such thing as instant replay.

Drawing near she put her hand in his and he pulled her closer until he could wrap the other arm around her and pull her to the armrest. Bella sat back against his shoulder as his hand released hers and gathered her hair and pushed it over her shoulder.

She was just a little taller sitting on the edge of the chair and her neck just happened to be at nose-level. Sam leaned in and took a long indulgent inhale from the hollow behind her ear.

"Mine," he stretched the word out on his exhale, breathy and low.

Shivers spilled down her back and her body instantly reacted with a wash of heat.

Sam drew another luxuriant breath over her skin, brushing his nose down the tendon as he gathered the scent of her arousal.

He pulled away and sat back while his eyes washed lazily over the flush of her cheek. "For now," he whispered, tucking her hair behind an ear.

Then he met her gaze.

Bella's eyes darted between his, endless and arcane, with a subtle wildness pulling at the pupil. These days she found herself forgetting about their agreement-…

"**Jake!"**

Malia's frustration rang from the kitchen. Apparently Raven was being rambunctious which was par for the course these days.

Jacob heaved a long-suffering sigh as he stood with their 6-month old son.

"I'll take him, Jake," Bella chuckled, pushing off the chair. He turned with a grateful grin.

She took the baby from his arms as he cast longing glances over his shoulder at the game and then hustled down the hall for father duty.

Liam waved his arms gleefully as she situated him on her hip making her giggle. He was just at the pre-crawl stage of pushing up and frustration.

"You don't like boring old football either, do you?" she nuzzled his chubby cheek… and, like a steel trap, the baby snatched at fistful of hair. "Got me," she barked a laugh, as she resituated him so she could pry her hair out of his little fist.

Pushing her hair over her shoulder, she walked slowly back toward the easy chair, bouncing the child on her hip with a smile while he looked back at her in baby awe. As she approached she glanced up and found Sam watching her.

It was different this time.

His eyes were softer and the slightest curve softened those broad stalwart lips. Instantly Bella knew he was imaging their child and there was something incredibly sexy about it. Her body thought so too and her stomach did a little flip while heat rushed to her cheeks.

She stopped beside his chair and Sam's gaze washed over her face as he raised a hand to push a stray hair back with the others he tucked by behind her ear. The brush of his rough fingertip felt like fire.

In that moment, the intimacy between them was suffocating.

"This is little Liam," she told him in a hushed voice, mesmerized by those eyes.

"I know," he whispered, his gaze staying locked with hers.

Bella cleared her throat and tried to deflect some of that attention. "Do you want to hold him?" she ventured.

His gaze darted between hers for a moment, cooling back to its usual hematite – she hadn't expected him in a million years to take her up on the offer.

But he did.

Eyes locked with hers, he held out steady hands. Just like he met any challenge or consequence that came his way, he'd take on this one with the same stoic perseverance.

Bella hesitated, her gaze inadvertently darting down the hall. She suddenly she wondered how Jacob would feel with his only son being held at his Alpha's mercy. But he trusted her, didn't he?

Well, she trusted Sam.

"This is uncle Sam," Bella babbled to the child as she lowered him into Sam's hands and then laughed at the unfortunate namesake.

Sam calmly pulled the child into his lap, pillowing his head in one huge palm while he held his butt in the other.

Bella was surprised. Unlike most new parents or men in general, Sam had the same implicit confidence that he had with anything he did from barking out orders to threatening to rip out her best friend's throat with his bare hands. .

From wiggly excited movements, Liam's body suddenly went stiff as a board. His eyes grew wider and wider as he stared up at the stranger. Then the child's face slowly crumpled in the telltale grimace of impending tears.

"Aww," Bella murmured, and reached out to take him, but Sam didn't hand him off.

Cocking his head, he pulled the baby closer and that low lupine rumble started in his chest, warm and soft.

The frown instantly melted into fascinated attention. Mesmerized, the child stared up at Sam's intense eyes… and then started kicking and waving his arms in excitement.

Sam sniffed, wry lips hitching up with amusement or victory, she couldn't tell. Still crooning to the child, Bella was surprised when he lifted him up to his face. Until he rubbed his jaw over a chubby cheek in that primal lupine way.

Bella smiled, leaning her hip against the chair as Sam settled the baby in his lap with a big palm over his tummy to hold him fast. Liam kicked his little feet at the new position and then looked up at this new marvel.

Child situated, Sam's gaze slid back out to hers as if waiting for the next challenge.

Dispassionate eyes, proud jaw and shoulders squared she wasn't quite sure how he looked even more intimidating with a baby in his lap. It made her ovaries burn.

Bella grinned broadly and then impulsively leaned in and placed a peck on his hairline. "I'll get you some lunch before the Pack of wolves descends," she chuckled, pulling back.

He nodded minutely and Bella turned around-…

To the undivided attention of the very Pack of wolves in question.

Apparently there was at least one thing that trumped football after all. Every face in the room was turned toward them and making no apologies for openly _staring_. Even Jacob had come down the hall and was frozen in the hallway. He looked like he couldn't decide whether to attack or faint.

Pulling her lip into her mouth, she met his gaze with a subtle pleading lift to her brow. Jacob blinked once and then strode into the room and leaned against the wall with a perfect unobstructed path between him and his Alpha. Crossing his arms over his chest he leaned back, setting up sentry.

Bella glanced over her shoulder to see how Sam was taking the blatant appraisal of the entire room. Liam had discovered Sam's braid and was waving the end excitedly in his hand before ferrying it to his mouth.

With complete unconcern on both accounts, Sam's eyes were turned to the TV while he casually held the child in his lap.

"Liam!" she laughed freely, and leaned in to coax the hair from his hand. She tucked it behind Sam's shoulder as he absently cooperated without sparing her so much as a glance. Bella smiled at both boys.

Rubbing her hands on her hips, Bella turned back to a room, still silently gaping at them both. With an annoyed roll of her eyes she made her way toward the hallway.

"Seriously, get over it and go back to your stupid game," she sniffed under her breath, just loud enough for every supernatural ear to hear her loud and clear.

From behind her, a dark chocolate chuckle bounced across the room.

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A laugh burst over her lips at the memory of the Pack gaping – slack-jawed, no less – at the sight of their Alpha holding Jacob's son. In some ways it felt like three years ago instead of three weeks.

She clicked off her Kindle as she sat back and stared up at the sky. Her mind kept wandering and she wasn't in the mood to try and pin it down. It was a bright and beautiful day just on the cusp of spring. It was still chilly but there was sun instead of the usual rain of the season so she'd come out to sit on the top step of the back porch.

And wait for Sam.

She watched the tree tops sway over a powder-blue sky and wiggled her sock-covered toes under the blanket she'd tossed over her legs against the chill while her mind wandered back to that pivotal day.

Frankly, it had gone more smoothly than she could have imagined - even though there had been many awkward moments. Raven had instigated many of them. She had been particularly enthralled with Sam and – having raced full-speed into talking over the last months – had used all her new skills to ask him everything from why he had long hair to whether he was the daddy of Bella's baby.

Kneeling beside the girl at his side, Bella had fielded most of her questions but at that last one, Sam had jumped in with his usual terse one-word answers and an unequivocal "yes." Raven had finally stopped asking questions after that.

Of course, it wouldn't be a Pack gathering without at least one mishap. Toward the end of the afternoon when the wolves were getting antsy at being cooped up indoors, Toby had come up from behind Bella and wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her neck as he inhaled her pregnancy sweetened scent that they all seemed to want to snort like glue.

Before Bella had even had a chance to reprimand him, a savage snarl had ripped through the room and all heads had turned to where Sam had stood up from his chair with incandescent eyes.

Poor Toby had nearly had a heart attack as he stumbled away from Bella like she had the plague along with everyone else in the room. It had been the sign that it was time to go home. Yet it had also been a sign that they'd grown so comfortable with Sam that they'd actually forgotten he was there. So Bella still counted it as a win.

But back home, Sam had carried her straight up to their bedroom, stripped her and proceeded to infuse every inch of her skin with his scent while he made love to her over and over. Apparently the day had been a little more stressful than he'd let on.

Sniffing a laugh, Bella took a bite of the pear in her hand and then set it back on the plate beside as her eyes again scanned the woods in the back of the house. She felt like Sam was already here – that subtle prickle of body and instinct always knew before her paltry human senses. But she couldn't see anything out in the forest.

Her eyes returned to the kindle on her knees – it was pretty much all of her lap that she had left. She felt like her belly was starting to take over. It wasn't of course, she'd actually had a little trouble gaining weight – just because she didn't really feel like eating. Sue had said it was because the baby was big and she was so petite that there wasn't much room for her stomach.

But she was doing well and the baby was too.

And so were she and Sam.

That prickle morphed into a hum and she looked up just as the huge black wolf slunk out of the forest. He paused on the edge of the lawn and then stalked toward her, rearing up mid stride and transforming into the man.

Bella smiled as he continued toward her without a break in his stride – ebony hair blowing in the light wind and muscles slick with sweat and rippling under the afternoon sun. His eyes were washing over her with their usual intensity – taking inventory of her every inch after he'd been away on patrols for most of the day. There had continued to be more leech forays into their territory and Sam was gearing up for another war.

But right now there was peace and Bella was going to greedily soak up every last drop of it.

Sam paused at the foot of the steps and bent down to his ankle.

"You don't have to put those on, you know," Bella crooned slyly. "The view's pretty awesome."

Sam straightened with the shorts in his hand.

And there it was: that blackstrap molasses smile that she'd remembered from the first day she'd met him face-to-face. Dark, sticky, sweet it made her want to lick it off those broad lips.

He stepped into the shorts anyway and then took two of the stairs and fell forward. With a laughing squeak, she leaned back as he caught himself facilely on strong hands, braced on the steps on either side of her legs.

Bella leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, smiling openly into his eyes. They were serious and deep even at play.

"I like watching you too," he whispered from the sly corner of his mouth as he leaned in. He _had _been in the woods like she'd suspected.

Bella automatically tipped her head to the side as he drew in a breath along her pulse, the tip of his nose dragging sensuously over her skin and making her shudder.

He chuckled softly in her ear and then pressed his lips under her jaw. Pulling back, his eyes inventoried every pore of her face before they got stuck on her lips.

Without a glance to her eyes or word, he smothered them with a hungry mouth and promptly kissed her senseless.

Just when her lungs were starting to complain he pulled his mouth away with a smack, staring into her eyes for a moment while her breath heaved and her nerves sparked and sizzled. Then, climbing the up the steps, he collapsed beside her, bumping her shoulder with candid affection that was perhaps more intimate than the kiss.

She turned and her eyes ghosted over his profile. Elbows propped on his thighs, he was gazing out over the lawn with those unreadable eyes – he could be watching a wild rabbit, making a grocery list or plotting to take over the world.

"How did everything go?" she asked with a tender smile.

He nodded once without a glance.

"It will be fine." That dulcet bass was infused with a confidence that made any question after seem irrelevant.

Bella reached for her pear and took another crisp bite, chewing while her mind spun. He told her enough of what was going on to keep her apprised, but not enough to invite worrying about details. Sam made it clear that that was his job.

She handed the fruit to him and he absently took it, raising it to his lips for a bite and obviously lost in his own thoughts.

Sucking in a breath through his nose, he handed it back to her, cutting his eyes over at her this time and leaning in for a quick kiss to her temple.

Bella leaned against his shoulder, nibbling away at the pear while they just stared out over the yard – the silence was now filled with enough history that it was comfortable between them. The only other person she'd ever had that with was Jacob.

Sam was obviously deep in thought about something – probably planning for the upcoming battle. He'd always been a brilliant strategist – that along with his unyielding dominion was the reason the Pack respected him like they did.

But over these last three weeks, they were starting to become more comfortable with him too. Since that day at Kim's there had been a seasonal ceremony with a celebration afterward and another few get-togethers that he'd actually stayed for.

With her. For the first time in longer than she could remember, it looked like things were coming together instead of falling apart.

Sitting back up, she deposited the core to the plate and then stood, shaking out the blanket. She let it drop to the porch behind him as she crossed to the house.

As usual, Sam didn't glance up or question her. She was getting used to the way his mind worked and she didn't want to interrupt his thoughts with an answer he didn't need to know. Sam took each moment as it came.

When he wanted her, he'd come find her, just like he always did. He'd either occupy himself at the table with carvings or sketching plans while she cooked, or pull her into his lap if she was reading, or silently step in and help with whatever chore she'd decided to tackle. If she wanted his company she would come find him too: she'd lay her cheek on his thigh on the couch while he watched the fire, or snuggle in beside him if he was napping from running all night or sit in his workshop with a book, kicking her feet on the lounge chair - that she was pretty sure he'd set up just for that purpose.

That's how they passed the days. They shared a togetherness that was blissfully devoid of that needy control that had ruled life with Paul.

But in this case, Bella wanted his company as she almost always did. Being with him gave her the space to be herself and between her school schedule, his work and duties with the Pack, she didn't get to see enough of him as it was.

The house smelled warm and savory. Bella checked on the crock-pot roast and then snatched the brush off the counter, heading back out to the porch.

Sam hadn't moved while she'd been in the house.

Bella's appreciative gaze ran over his bulky shoulders, down the corded muscles that ran like railroad tracks down his back. She stooped awkwardly and lay out the blanket and then down on her knees and scooted behind him.

Squaring his shoulders, he automatically sat back; this had become somewhat of a ritual for them. Bella wasn't sure, but she thought it soothed the beast and helped him think. Putting the handle between her teeth, she gathered his hair from the front and then smoothed her palms over his shoulders. The muscles twitched and jerked under her touch. She'd been right: he was more tense than usual.

Bella scraped her fingernails slowly over his scalp and then combed them down his long hair, caressing over that strong back that had borne so much weight for so long.

So alone.

Taking the brush from her mouth, she started brushing his hair. With a tuneless hum playing on her lips, Bella took her time, dragging the bristles from the crown of his head luxuriantly down to the ends, rubbing down his back, while watching a little of the tension slip from those shoulders. After his hair was hanging like burnished silk down his back, she set the brush down and gathered his locks in her hand. As she brought the hair back snugly, she ghosted her fingertips over the shell of his ear just to watch chill bumps spill over his skin.

With a soft smile, Bella divided it into three parts and began the tight braid. "I'm your friend, you know," she said quietly as her fingers worked. "If you want to talk."

Sam seemed to sit up a little straighter.

Bella continued the braid with careful fingers – completing four more plaits before he spoke.

"Thank you."

Bella continued with several more twists of hair. She hadn't really expected him to say anything more so she changed the subject. It was actually something she'd been thinking about since that day in Kim's kitchen.

"So I was wondering," she began. "Can we have the Pack over for dinner sometime?"

Sam didn't hesitate. "It's your choice," he returned in that impersonal bass.

She frowned. "It's your house, you shou-…"

"I built it-…" he interrupted her brusquely and then stopped like the words had been jerked back.

Bella's fingers froze mid-plait, waiting for the rest.

Sam's head tipped down, tugging on the hair in her hand. "I built it for you," he murmured. "To do with as you will."

Bella's heart stumbled for several beats before it could pick itself back up and start again. With a sound blink, her gaze fell to her numb fingers, holding three strands of silky ebony at the bottom of a slick plait so very like the three lives they were trying to weave together.

She heard her thick swallow crinkle in her throat as she tried to figure out what the hell to do. Whether it was strategic or it had just slipped out, she knew that this was completely unchartered territory for them both. Bella needed to handle his heart with care.

Pressing her lips together, she sat up a little more and began again. Slowly, carefully she braided his hair .

"I was wondering why you had such a big kitchen," she mused, keeping her voice light. "When you can't even boil water."

Sam drew a long breath through his nose as he lifted his chin and settled his shoulders back. "I made coffee," he reminded her quietly.

Bella nodded loosely. "That you did," she whispered, as that night flooded back. She'd been so broken.

She stopped at the end of the braid and inspected her handiwork, then she rolled the rubber band off of her wrist and tied it off.

"All done," she breathed as her hands smoothed over his rock-hard traps. With a soft sigh, she leaned in and pressed her lips into the trough between. Then snaking her arms around his neck, she rubbed her nose back and forth for a moment over the delicious musky satin of his skin. She pressed her palm tenderly over his heart.

"Did you really, Sam?" she whispered, leaning her cheek on his shoulder .

She felt the muscles flex with a single brisk nod.

Bella's mind uselessly searched for traction.

Turning to rest her other cheek on his shoulder, she pressed her lips to his neck. "Why?" she breathed over his pulse.

"I told you." His hand slipped over hers on his chest.

Bella's gaze darted over his high cheekbone and the athletic cut of his jaw as he stared straight ahead like he was awaiting a sentence for a capital crime.

She adjusted herself behind him and propped her chin on his shoulder, looking for his eyes.

"For how long?" she asked quietly.

He drew in a quiet breath. "Since the beginning."

Bella licked her lips as her left hand absently traced his collar bone. "What would you have done if Paul and I had worked out?"

She heard his swallow as his chin tipped down slightly. "I-I'd like to think that I'd have turned away." The stutter only highlighted the uncertainty behind the words.

Bella's hand stilled. "And now?" she whispered.

Sam turned toward her, glancing out of the corner of his eyes in confusion.

"Can I leave?" she clarified. Bella wasn't sure that she could any more but that part of her that was still damaged and afraid needed to know.

He turned back to the yard. "We have an agreement," he announced, cold and emotionless. "I never break my word."

Bella blinked in confusion as she settled her cheek against his shoulder again. "How could you do all this and then let me walk away?" She was curious. She thought she knew, but she wondered if he did.

"It was the plan," he told the yard in a dusky bass. "The agreement gave you nine months to learn to like it here."

Bella chewed on her lip thoughtfully – he had always been a brilliant strategist and he'd known she needed freedom to stay. But he hadn't understood the rest of it.

"I do like it here, Sam," she whispered gently. "But if I stay, it won't be for the house."

He nodded, while he absently stroked a finger over her knuckles. "I know that now," he murmured.

Bella's eyes darted over his cheek while she waited for more.

He drew in a brusque breath and then huffed it out. "I know how to fight a war - I know I'll win." It wasn't grandstanding. It was an irrefutable fact.

"But this…" he sighed in defeat and leaned his head back against her as he looked up at the sky.

Suddenly she realized that he _was_ taking her up on her offer after all – this was what was weighing him down, not an impending battle.

Bella leaned into him and rubbed her jaw soothingly over his and then picked up her head. "This isn't war, Sam," she said quietly, sitting up and pulling her arms back into her lap.

Sam sniffed and nodded, looking out over the lawn. "What is it?"

She'd asked the same question one morning only six weeks ago. Together they were slowly stumbling toward an answer and as the destination became clear, it became all the more terrifying for them both. For different reasons.

The baby chose that moment to kick in his own two cents and Bella hissed in surprise.

Sam whipped around, battle-ready focus locked and loaded.

Bella ignored it and frantically snatched at his hand, ferrying it clumsily to her stomach. Unlike previous times, the baby cooperated and gave a swift kick to his palm.

Composure dropped from his face like a lead curtain and Sam looked up with eyes that were unguarded and wide.

And for just a brief moment in time Bella could see clear down to the yearning in a tender human soul. It made her heart ache.

Hand planted firmly on her stomach, Sam slipped up behind her with that liquid grace that defied his size. Breath shallow with rapt attention, his other palm found her belly too as his knees scooted up on either side of her thighs.

Bella leaned back into his chest as their baby continued to rearrange himself in the close quarters, fluttering under Sam's hand. Then he stopped and settled in.

Sam rested his cheek on her head while his palms rubbed slowly over the swell of her middle searching for more.

She heard him lick his lips. "So what is it?" he whispered. She could hear a tension stirring the depths under that serene bass- being vulnerable for her was the hardest thing he'd ever done.

When she'd asked him the same thing weeks and worlds ago, he'd answered her as best he could and she owed him the same. She needed to be the strong one this time.

Drawing in a deep breath, Bella's hands slipped over his on her stomach. "I think-…" the whispered words got caught in her throat first try. "I think it's love, Sam."

His hands froze for several heartbeats while the spring grew up around them and clouds floated lazily overhead, casting racing shadows across the lawn.

Then, burying his face in her neck, Sam's arms snaked all the way around her, wrapping over hers and holding her tight.

Bella's hands slipped up to hang from those bulky forearms as she pressed her cheek against his head.

And together they sat silently on the edges – of the spring, of a new life they'd created, of conflict and battle, birth and rebirth… the precipice of many things.

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_Review if you like. _

_(No, that's not the end. *sigh*)_


	6. Part V - Reign (1st half)

_Your notes help a lot, thanks for the thoughts and discussion. _

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_Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy._

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**Part V- Reign**

_(first half)_

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She was running late.

It wasn't the kind of first impression she wanted to make for the Pack. Angela and Malia – with mates and kids in tow – would here in another half hour and she was hopelessly behind on her cooking schedule. She'd slept longer this afternoon than she'd intended. At just past the six month mark, the baby drained her body more than she realized.

Bella reached-…

_Damn it. _

Even standing on a step stool, the copper pan was out of reach on the rack thanks to the now obvious curve of her stomach. Bracing her hand on the stove she bent over more, futilely wiggling her fingers toward the smug dishware.

An inadvertent squeak of surprise popped over her lips at the feel of a palm slipping over each hip.

"Shh," a whisper by her ear made sensual shiver shimmy down her spine.

Sam's fingers curled around her hipbones as he pushed his hard body against her and Bella reflexively arched back against him with instant desire. Just his touch…

And this was the perfect height too.

She tipped her head back as he leaned in and nuzzled her jaw. He thrust suggestively into her several teasing times pulling a moan of longing from her throat. In his hands she always fell apart at the seams.

Sam hummed his approval and his lips tiptoed down the side of her neck and Bella tilted her head to the side in sweet surrender. His hands smoothed up her sides then around over sensitive full breasts, making her nerves spark and sputter like detonating cord. She barely noticed than the sharp bite of the imprint any more.

"S-Sam," she gasped, pressing cravingly back against the clear manifest of his own arousal.

He ground it slowly into a need that, like a spring stream, had quickly swollen into a rushing ache. A hand pulled the neckline of her dress to the side and he pressed hot lips to where her neck met her shoulder.

"Oh God," Sam breathed over her skin as one hand found her hip again. With teeth that danced on the edges of breaking skin, he massaged the muscle while he held her under the sultry thrust of his hips.

Intoxicated eyes rolled in her head as her hand slipped over his in a wordless plea.

But with an abruptness that gave her whiplash, he sucked in a breath through his teeth and pulled away, his body shuddering behind her almost violently.

Bella's eyes popped open to the ceiling while his forehead fell heavily to her shoulder blade, breath racing down her back and pushing chill bumps out like a wake. Confused, she stayed frozen where she was, hand clasped over his where it dug into her hipbone.

With a long slow inhale, Sam picked up his head and his hand released her brusquely as he reached up to where the pan had been all but forgotten. He pulled it easily from the rack and set it on the stove as he straightened and pulled her back against his chest.

"Mm," he hummed against her temple, enveloping her in a tender and clearly non-sexual embrace.

Bella reached her arms up behind her and clasped her fingers behind his head, rubbing her temple over his stubly jaw.

In response, Sam's hands skimmed possessively up the lush fertile curves of her body.

"Why don't we try it like that?" Bella breathed.

Unlike Paul who needed novelty and distraction, she and Sam didn't need the exotic. When he made love to her, it was about the sensuality, the exchange of energy and breath, the affection and joining of flesh.

And it was deeper and more satisfying every time.

But Bella knew from her own experience and the demure admissions of other imprints that, just like scent and nuzzles to the jaw, there was something about this position that the wolf craved. Sam always seemed to pointedly avoid it.

Just like now.

"Not now," he whispered into her hair. Pressing a smacking kiss to her cheek, he promptly pulled back, lifting her from the stool like she weighed as much as a kitten and setting her carefully on her feet.

Bella stared after him in confusion as he crossed toward the table while he briskly rubbed his face with his palms.

"Why, Sam?" she asked quietly, as she turned to the stove and lit a burner. She put the pot on the fire to preheat as she watched him in the copper reflection.

When he didn't answer she turned around. "Sam?" He'd stopped at the table and was fiddling with the chopping board.

Staring at the far wall, his shoulders lifted with a breath that settled them back. "I'm not strong enough."

Bella's mouth automatically popped open to contradict him – before she reconsidered. He was the strongest man she'd ever known. His touch was so careful, his emotion so contained, his power so controlled - but yet she'd seen him at the feral height of his wildness. The strength it took to rein that in on a daily basis was unfathomable.

Obviously something else was going on here and instinct was telling her to tread very lightly.

"What do you mean?" she whispered.

Sam didn't turn around but his hand continued to trace along the plastic cutting board. Bella crossed slowly toward him.

"I lost control once-…" he told the other side of the room in a flat voice. "It is inexcusable to make the same mistake twice."

She stopped beside him, looking up at that stern profile that was pointedly ignoring her. If that were the case then she'd made a bunch of inexcusable decisions over the last five years. How many times had she forgiven Paul?

Those black and white lines of his made Sam a phenomenal leader, but they also tore him up inside; he was harder on himself than he was even on others.

Keeping her eyes trained on him, she moved down the table a little more and further into his periphery. "How will you lose control?" she prodded gently, her eyes begging for his.

They finally relented and met hers. Aloof, dispassionate, inaccessible – she hadn't seen that mask so deeply rooted in a long while.

His bass was just as brittle and glassy. "I'll mark you."

Her body reacted to the word before it had even reached her brain. The imprint followed a beat after with a reprimanding yank like a last-ditch defense.

Bella blinked several times.

Sam continued to stare down at her with chilly black eyes and not a single comforting shadow of emotion.

This _was_ complicated.

For both of them.

But Bella understood him well enough by now to handle it until she could find her own bearings and instinct took over the rest. She listened to it a lot more these days - it understood Sam the best.

"I see," she said simply and let her eyes drop to the cutting board.

Pushing the knife off onto the table she pulled the stiff plastic toward her, laden with chopped onions and peppers. Without another glance, she turned with the food in her hand and crossed back to the stove.

She could feel Sam's gaze follow her like a shadow.

The trick was to be unpredictable enough to capture the wolf's attention and the man wouldn't boil himself alive in all that emotion that she knew lurked under that steel mask.

Setting the cutting board on the stove, she crossed to the counter and grabbed up the bottle of oil.

"And you don't want that?" she asked casually as she returned to the stove, resisting the impulse to glance his way. She poured a measure of oil into the hot pan and watched it melt and sluice across the shiny surface.

"You don't," he answered behind her in a quiet dusky voice.

Bella's mind sifted through all the little pieces that it had collected over these last six and a months and then fit them together._ That_ was what was going in under the surface: on some level he was hurt, though he probably didn't realize it. She didn't know if he even registered the feeling of pain anymore.

"That's not what I asked," she returned shrewdly as she picked up the cutting board.

She heard Sam's sniff of a laugh behind her and smiled to herself – of course that sharp mind recognized his own tactics being used against him. But she also knew the game would be irresistible and he'd leave the self-derision behind.

There were only a handful of times over these last weeks he'd allowed himself to be vulnerable with her, and she handled each one with the care and attention they merited. That's why they kept coming.

She swept the vegetables into the sizzling oil. "So what do you want Sam?" she asked calmly.

"You know what I want," he whispered – a lot closer than she'd expected. Her eyes glanced at his reflection in the pot, standing just behind her.

"Well actually, I don't. Otherwise I wouldn't be asking," she continued the ruse with a pert little cock of her head. She picked up the wooden spoon and stirred the onion and peppers while they popped. "Do you want garlic in the chili?" she turned to him with a raised brow.

She'd just wanted to see his eyes.

They were black and churning before they were quickly shuddered away. He nodded and then crossed to the refrigerator.

Bella watched him go, absently admiring that mercury gait and the way his long braid swayed down his bare muscular back. Then she turned back to the pot while she plotted her strategy.

The refrigerator door thunked closed and he strode back to her side while she watched in her periphery.

"Thanks," she murmured as she took the jar of garlic and unscrewed the lid.

He clasped his hands behind his back and watched her – patiently waiting for her next move.

Bella sniffled at the volatile combination of onion and oil and dipped out a generous spoonful of garlic.

"I mean, you didn't really know me before," she continued breezily. "And it's been months living with me now. You might have decided you prefer life on your own."

She stirred the garlic briskly and then screwed the lid back on the jar. Turning as she handed it back to him, she met his eyes with her own serious questions.

She could see the wheels turning behind that hematite stare. He took the jar from her hand and their fingers brushed… on purpose. Everything he did was strategic. The burning zing from his mere touch answered her clearly without words.

He turned back toward the refrigerator and offered them anyway.

"I knew you before," he contended quietly. Every word for Sam Uley was a blood oath.

"I watched you for five years." He pulled open the fridge again. "Through Jacob, Embry, Jared, Quil, …" he placed the garlic on the shelf and then closed the door again. "The twins…" He turned back toward her and met her eyes.

"Through Paul."

That name dropped like a bomb between them, setting off a whole host of reactions. But only one tugged at her heart: suddenly she understood that, on some level, Sam had been assuming that she'd endured the pain of the imprint because she didn't want to let Paul go. That she was choosing him over Sam.

And it couldn't be farther from the truth.

But wolves were territorial if they were anything, and even the slightest hint of competition didn't set well with them. She had to keep him moving – quickly.

"Through other people," she countered with a dismissive sniff, turning back to the stove. "It's not the same as spending your days…" she paused, cocking a brow over a glance in his direction. "And _nights_, with someone."

She stirred the pot a little more.

"No it's not," he agreed silkily, as he took several steps toward her. "It's better than any of them could imagine."

He was far better at these games. Bella's eyes jerked up to his dark espresso smile.

"And every one of them tried," he told her, pointed and slow.

Bella nearly choked on her tongue. Whatever expression jackknifed across her face made those broad lips hitch up with triumph.

He added a suggestive jump of his brow. "Many times."

Bella rolled her eyes and returned them to the safety of the pot, pretending it was the heat from the stove that was burning her cheeks off her face.

Sam slunk to her side and his fingers pushed her hair back behind an ear while he cocked his head at her embarrassment. "But I won you fair and square," he whispered.

Bella's eyes fluttered closed as he leaned in and took a long breath at her temple. "Mmm," he hummed lazily on his exhale. "You can't say you don't know what I want, Bella."

Her eyes blinked open as he pulled back and she turned into that intense stare, as handsome as the day is long and cast in stone again. And awaiting her verdict.

Blinking at the way he could liquefy her insides to jelly with a glance, she turned back to the stove, trying to gather herself. Verbal spars and games of chess were all well and good, but underneath the strategy were things that needed to be tenderly handled. For both of them.

Sam's gaze ran over her profile and then he spun on his heel and stalked back out into the room.

Listlessly stirring the vegetables, she let her mind spin for a moment and then turned down the heat to a simmer. It was her move.

And it was a big one.

It was one she'd been wanting to make for a while. One that she'd realized she'd been making in tiny little steps since that first night.

Bella crossed to the counter and pulled the big bowl of rising dough into her arms and against her pregnant belly. True, it had taken these six months to come to terms with the fact his child was growing inside her, but yet, perhaps even more profoundly frightening was the way the man had grown in her heart.

Until there was room for nothing else.

Sam was sitting on the bench, arms propped behind him and legs splayed apart with that casual cocksure cheek. Watching her.

It was exactly like that night nearly seven months ago. Except nothing was the same.

_Nothing._

Blinking, she continued the rest of the way to the table and set the bowl down and then returned to the counter to fetch the muffin tins to fill with rolls to rise. She drew in a deep breath as she turned back to the table. Sam's eyes quickly darted back out to the window at her approach.

"The reason I haven't asked you to mark me," she began abruptly as she set the bakeware down on the table. "Is that I decided that first night that I'd had enough of fate."

Sam didn't glance at her from where he sat on the bench, but continued to stoically gaze out the window.

She pulled the tins out from one another and arranged them restlessly on the table.

"I decided I'd learn to live with the pain," she murmured, pulling the oiled plastic from over the yeast dough. She watched it slowly deflate for a moment, taking her time to find the right words.

"Because after leech thrall and then an imprint..." she sniffed an acidic laugh. "I decided I wouldn't bind myself to another man unless it was what _I_ _chose_."

She looked up at that detached profile, calmly waiting for each word to come out in its own time. As usual, he was neither skipping ahead with conjecture nor drawing comfort from the victories of the past. Sam took each moment as it came.

A sentimental smile curved her lips and she took the first steps toward him. "And not for an agreement or practical arrangement or something that worked out well," she whispered. "For love."

She watched the minute flare of his nostrils and wondered what he was thinking. Stopping in front of him, she openly tried to figure it out.

He gave her nothing to go on. She watched his pupils contract into focus in her eyes and not a single expression flickered over his face. No neediness or pressure.

He gave her the space to be herself – to take what she needed and leave the rest. He took whatever she offered him freely and didn't demand more. _What's mine is yours to leave or take. _He'd told her that the first night and had kept his promise.

Sam never broke his word.

Bella reached up and stroked a single pad of her finger down over his athletic cheek and watched his lashes subtly flutter.

He gave her the space to give everything.

Bella watched her finger trace over his jaw and then smooth over those stalwart lips. She took a step closer and rested her hands on his shoulders as she looked into those endless ebony eyes.

"But the thing is…" she breathed. "I'm in love with you, Sam."

He blinked twice an ingenuous surprise making his pupils quiver– a shocking reaction in context of that steel. It made her heart ache to see that longing, but at the same time inflated it to the bursting point with the understanding that she could fill it.

She _wanted_ to fill it.

Bella stepped in closer, snaking both arms around his neck. Sam's hands slipped up to her hips and she could feel the subtle tremor against her skin like hummingbird wings – emotion, restraint? It didn't really matter.

"You, Sam. Not your house," she told him quietly, looking into his eyes. "Not your plan or your body... not even because of our child."

His eyes were darting rapidly between her own, searching for duplicity or reservation. She knew he'd find none.

Bella leaned in slowly, feeling his hands grip her hips and watching his eyes cross in the struggle to keep her in focus.

"I love you," she whispered. And she pressed her mouth to his in a gentle, cherishing kiss.

He tasted like dark chocolate cherries: sticky and sweet and decadent. _Mate._

She dragged her lips luxuriantly back and forth over the warm silk of his mouth. "Mine," she breathed.

Sucking in a breath through both nose and mouth, his hands rose up to cup her jaw and he kissed her back. Slow, sensuous, deep, pulling away and tugging a breath of yearning over her lips across the distance.

His eyes were intense and still as they washed silently over her face, but there was a subtle hollowness to that wooden expression - like underneath he couldn't believe it.

Or didn't know how to handle the emotion that came with the believing.

Bella had been prepared for that. Like he did in all things, Sam had plotted the perfect strategy to get what he'd set his sights on but he hadn't been prepared for how he'd feel when he got it.

Sam still didn't understand: the only reason he could let her go - like he'd claimed again two weeks ago - was that he loved her. And had for a while. She didn't know if he felt pain anymore, so that meant he might not be able to process love either.

Bella knew it would take a while. Truth is, he was worth it.

Bella was confident enough now for the both of them now. With insane risk, brilliant strategy, and madness, he'd gotten them to this place and now it was her turn to take them the rest of the way.

It made her feel strong. Trusted, powerful and important. And loved.

Because she was.

The awe that snuck into the shadows around that stoic stare spoke louder than any words he could speak aloud. Eventually he would…

Sam always did his very best.

"They're here," he whispered as his palms skimmed down her arms to take her hands.

Bella pressed her lips together with a curt nod and resetting breath.

Without an audible word, but a soliloquy being screamed by those eyes, he stood from the bench. Then he turned and led her across the kitchen, altering his long flowing stride to accommodate her gait.

Bella could hear the car doors close outside.

She'd invited the imprinted wolves over first and even though she'd gotten a late start, it would be fine, as Sam always liked to claim. Angela, Malia and Jose could help her cook while Kim and Josiah played with the kids while Sam met with their mates as the older core the Pack. Lead by Seth, the younger ones were patrolling – Sam had at least five wolves on patrol every minute these days. Quil would be the only one not in attendance: he had taken Claire back home to the Makah reservation for the school week (he was going to be ecstatic when she graduated this year and could move in).

Sam stopped just in the entry way, drawing Bella's attention from the commotion of kids and parents outside through the screen. His eyes ran over her face intensely as his hand slipped up her back to the nape of her neck.

His lips parted, but apparently words were the only things he couldn't dominate. Along with his human heart.

Bella smiled and went up on her tip toes. "Kiss me," she whispered.

Sam bent down and pressed his mouth to hers, lingering and tender. Loving.

She pulled back just enough for a moist intimate smack. "Sometimes words mean nothing," she breathed over his mouth and he sucked them over a molasses smile.

Her pleasure sparkling in her eyes, she turned out of his arms and strode the rest of the way to the door. There were already enough firsts today and she knew that Sam always maintained a certain level of decorum and distance in front of his Pack. Right now he was only comfortable showcasing sexual possession, not affection.

Bella understood.

She opened the screen just as Jacob was pulling out Liam from the baby seat and Raven jumped down on the other side of the SUV. Embry's family was spilling out of their car behind it.

As she strode out on the porch, both wolves turned and froze for an awkward moment in a new situation. The last and only time Jacob and Embry had been at this house were that first day they'd come to fetch her. The day after she'd slept with their Alpha and conceived the child she now proudly carried in her body.

Now she carried the man in her heart too.

Life was strange.

She paused at the top of the stairs allowing them all to settle. After years of solitude she knew it would be stressful for Sam to have other wolves in his territory – he'd stayed in the house and left the greeting to her. Because that's what she was good at. Everything with Sam was strategic.

"I'm running late," Bella announced with a smile. "Do you think you guys can help me catch up with dinner?"

"Sure, sweetie," Angela was the first to break the silence. She hoisted Chloe higher up on her hip while Cody tore around the car in front of his smiling father.

"Auntie Bells!" he yodeled.

Raven joined in with her own high hyper shrieks, and, like the children always seemed to do so well, the two toddlers shattered any lingering discomfort. Raven beat her cousin to the stairs and promptly climbed them on clopping hands and feet.

"Careful," Bella called out as she sat clumsily on the top step and reached out an arm to each child.

"This is your house, Auntie?" Raven asked in her bright little voice.

Bella nodded with a smile as she pulled the girl in for a hug.

"And Uncle Tham's?" she checked, blinking up at her with those clear green eyes.

Bella nodded again as she pulled Cody up into her other side. "It looks like it's going to rain, but there's a really nice yard to play in," Bella informed them.

Jared's car pulled up then and Collin's truck turned the corner with Brady and Jose sitting in the back and Bella smothered a knowing smile. She would bet money that they'd been waiting down the road until Jacob and Embry arrived first.

Her eyes darted out to Jacob who was watching her with a sunny grin that all but confirmed her theory. He tossed her a wink and wrapped an arm around Malia's shoulders while he absently smooched Liam's sleeping cheek.

Jacob Black could be the patron saint of fatherhood, with his brother a close runner up. Showcasing that fact clearly, Embry came up behind Angela and wrapped his arms around her middle while he made silly faces at their daughter over her shoulder.

She wondered how they all saw her and Sam.

She didn't have to wonder for long.

Bella could feel the moment he'd pushed open the screen door. Her body was acutely aware of him at all times – she often wondered if it was because he was her Alpha or her lover or whether it was something more arcane. But even if she hadn't felt the moment he'd stepped out on the porch, like a cartoon strip it was announced the scene before her: every last one of his Pack froze, all eyes snapping up to him and then deferentially scurrying for cover.

Even Jacob's gaze bobbed to the ground - he respected his Alpha differently these days. Bella was pretty sure it was because he could see it in her face: Sam made her happy.

Jacob had always been the best friend a girl could have.

She scanned the drive – Jared and poised with his hand on Kim's door, Collin in the middle of taking out the baby seat next to Jen, and Brady and Jose standing in the back of the pickup.

All so serious and sober.

"Uncle Tham!"

Except for Raven, of course. The girl wiggled out of Bella's arms and climbed the last step throwing herself at Sam's leg with undaunted exuberance.

As a child, Jacob had always enjoyed gleefully pushing the envelope too.

Bella laughed softly as she turned and watched their Alpha stare down at the tiny child wrapped his calf. Sam met Bella's eyes with private humor – probably thinking the same thing - and then bent down to lift Raven up into his arms.

Cody wasn't quite as brave and clung to Bella's side as she started to stand. Sam's big hand was instantly at her elbow and helping her up to the porch.

"I wike your house, Uncle," Raven told him. "Can we come all the time? Every Sunday? Auntie said you have a magic kitchen and me, Cody, and Lilly want to play in the yard."

As her mouth launched into the usual non-stop chatter – that was only made worse by new situations - Sam stared at the child with subtle amusement hitching up his lips.

"I'm calling you Magpie," he pronounced in that slickery bass when she paused for a breath.

"My name's Raven," she contradicted him with a frown.

"You chatter like a magpie," he arched a brow. "You inherited your father's mouth."

Raven didn't quite know how to respond to that. Her gaze darted down the steps to her father, chucking good naturedly as he strode up the walk. He stretched his mouth open wide with a goofy grin and that irrepressible sun.

The child's big eyes turned back to Sam's cool impassive stare. Her lip was just starting to pout with tears when his deep laughter made her bounce in his arms.

"Welcome, Cub," he murmured, leaning in and rubbing his jaw along hers before handing her down into Jacob's arms.

He took his daughter with a reassuring nuzzle and then bent down to his nephew still gaping up at their Alpha with a fist firmly anchored in Bella's dress.

"Come," Sam announced and then turned for the screen.

And with predictable awkwardness and uneasy fits and starts, an afternoon at their Alpha's had begun.

All things considered, it really didn't turn out half bad, Bella decided.

Leah and Josiah had arrived soon after and all the wolves met in the living room while mates and kids puttered and played in a kitchen that was made for the job. Soon it was teaming with the scents of good food, the sounds of spirited conversation and the shrieks of children.

As was so typical for Washington springs, the dusk brought with it the rain, but no one seemed to mind. By the time the Pack had finished its business meeting, everyone had settled into the warmth and comfort of food and friendship.

After the kids were fed, little ones took naps on shoulders and the toddlers settled down in front of a fire with games that Angela and Kim had brought. Sam didn't own a TV but it wasn't missed.

No one had made excuses to leave.

With kids sleeping on the couches in front of the hearth, night had fallen hard and sound by the time the adults were sitting down to a meal together.

She was turning from the counter with the platter of ham when it hit her like a freight train. Bella gasped with the impact.

Laid out in front of her was a tableaux she'd only dreamed of: a table well-spread with food and a big beautiful kitchen filled with her family and bubbling with conversation and laughter.

Sam sat silently at the table's head with wolves lining either side, comfortable and relaxed and making stupid jokes while they passed plates piled high with food. Jacob sat at the other end with a place for Malia on one side and his brother at the other. He was smiling at her with sparkling eyes like he knew exactly what she was thinking. He probably did.

For the first time Bella had everything she'd ever dare dream of in one place: her friends, a family, a home… a man she really loved who was kind and gentle. And their future together growing inside her.

Bella was… happy. It had been such a long time.

Feeling eyes on her, she glanced out to see Sam turned and watching her with that blackstrap intensity that could strip her bare with a glance. Defenseless under his gaze, a tsunami of emotion born on the rush of hormones took her breath away.

No sooner were her eyes burning with the press of tears, was Sam was congealing to his feet.

The room and everything in it fell away into silence as - black eyes locked with hers – he stepped away from the table and took slow slinking steps toward where she was frozen in a moment of overwhelm.

His hand reached her first, skating along her jaw where long fingers curled over the nape of her neck and raised hairs with a shiver. The other took the tray from her hands ferrying it anonymously away, while that gentle thumb on her chin urged her face up to his towering 6'6".

Embarrassed by the sudden emotional display, Bella blinked rapidly, feeling hot humiliating tears sprint over her cheeks.

And, in the middle of a silent kitchen, with all of his Pack looking on, Sam Uley bent down and kissed her.

First warm silken lips brushed over each of her cheeks as both hands cupped her jaw and held her firmly to a flat bold statement of affection. He laved away her tears and then ended on her lips with a honeysuckle kiss that was unhurried and intimate and completely unconcerned by the entire room looking on.

He pulled back with a soft smack and his still eyes held her hypnotized.

"My mate," he whispered in a low bass that stretched out languorously like a sleeping cat. "You carry too much. Let others do this and come rest."

Bella swallowed down a tentative smile, mesmerized by his scent and those eyes.

Then abruptly, like he'd swung a heavy velvet cape over his shoulders, he straightened with an imperious turn to the room that dared any gaze to stay lifted.

Not a single set of eyes wandered their way.

But conversation quickly filled in the uncomfortable spaces and dinner was seamlessly back on track in no time, like nothing out of the ordinary had happened at all.

But it had.

It was a subtle change that Bella couldn't quite put her finger on, - it was simple and inexplicable, like instinct always was.

And it heralded the best damn meal Bella could remember.

The food was simple enough – the usual pot luck providing a smorgasbord of various casseroles, breads and meats.

Sam was still stoic and silent, sparing a glance and shadowed smile for her now and again, but still forgetting humanity's cues almost every time.

The younger wolves stopped in for food – more than once - tracking in mud and raunchy humor while the girls blushed and groaned. Quil came back with his signature guffaws that – as usual - woke the kids up cranky and earned his fare share of exasperated slaps that only made things worse. Leah was a bitch and Josiah was patient and Jose diffused even the tensest moments with flaming audacity.

In other words, business as usual.

And not a single thing was the same.

'

'

But the price of power and their inherited fate was a cruel and heartless master. It spared no mercy for new beginnings or fledgling families or food and friendship earned by a thankless job well done.

Bella was sitting beside Angela in the living room, chatting while she fed her infant. The men were decimating dessert and cleaning up – which naturally involved just as much horsing around.

When the first howls climbed the stormy skies.

Silence rolled over the house like a lead carpet on its heels.

Exchanging wide-eyed glances, Bella pushed herself off the couch and rushed for the kitchen.

She froze, catching herself on the doorway at such an unsettling sight. Like a snapshot made flesh, every wolf was frozen in the middle of what their bodies had been doing, but every last face had turned to Sam.

Still seated at the head of the table, his eyelashes were settled against his cheeks and his head was bowed like he was in the midst of prayer. Both hands were grasped each edge with a white knuckled grip while the muscles slithered and jumped up his bare arms and over his chest.

While agitated howls twisted in the distance under the velvet shudder of thunder, he slowly looked up. Like a sprung trap, his eyes snapped open, yellow and wild and instantly locked in hers.

It was so startling that Bella took an inadvertent step back.

He didn't react but merely peeled one hand from the table and lifted it toward her. "Come," his voice was deep and raw and oozing violence like a wound.

Bella's feet reacted before her ear had processed the word and all around her the world seemed to shatter. A dish was dropped, men hustled across the room. Two left through the back door and mates came barreling into arms.

Sam's eyes stayed locked with hers but he spoke to them all.

"They use night and rain to mask the scent," he murmured, sticky and dark like a nightmare. "They hit us hard with 18 – say your goodbyes."

But still his hand was gentle as it wrapped around hers and brought it to his braid. Bella's lips were quivering with emotion, as she pulled it over his shoulder and then stepped behind him, somehow knowing exactly what to do.

Like a severe silent eye in the middle of a hurricane, chin proud, spine straight, Sam stared across the bustling room. Bella's numb fingers pulled the band free from the end and watched as it seemed to drop to the floor in slow motion.

The Pack had been through this drill many times, but this time it was different.

Everything was different.

Around Sam, energy seemed to spark and crackle while Bella's shaking hands combed through the thick plait, releasing it to rippling ebony and elemental power. A droplet of water fell to the locks and then another and another – silent tears that she couldn't feel until they caught in his hair.

She wondered if Sam even registered the pain.

She collapsed against those bulky shoulders as her arm wrapped covetously around him. "Oh Sam," she wept, pressing her fear and anxiety into his corded neck with desperate lips.

Sam's heated hand covered hers where it had naturally slipped over his heart.

"Shh," he murmured under her ear, his voice already hybrid and rough. "It will be fine."

Gently pulling her around, he stood while yellow lupine eyes took inventory of the room.

Bella glanced out to see Embry wrapped around his mate and Jacob swallowing Malia whole. Josiah pulled back from a gasping Leah and Jared stalked purposefully back in the kitchen with a wide-eyed Kim trailing after.

Bella took an automatic step back to give him room to do his job, but those animal eyes darted crisply down to stop her. He briefly flashed displeased canines.

Paling, she froze, fear racing through her veins for just a moment before she remembered. Sam might be more animal at the moment, but he had more than enough man to keep him in check. She knew that now.

Cocking his head slightly he seemed to watch those thoughts play across her face before his hand slipped up her arm to her shoulder. He turned toward her more and brushed his knuckles over her cheek, then, holding her still by a single finger on her chin, he leaned down.

He rubbed his jaw against hers with crisp feral movements while he drew in a long slow breath of her scent.

"Mine," he growled softly by her ear. Then with a last nudge of his nose to her temple he straightened.

"Be careful, Sam," Bella whispered, trying to blink to keep the tears in her eyes.

He watched her a heartbeat longer and then brusquely turned and was eating up the distance with that unsettling stride –too smooth and quick to be human.

The screen ricocheted off the house with a bang as he pushed through and he caught it with barely a consideration.

More vibration than sound, his bellow was echoed by solicitous thunder.

"PHASE!"

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_Review if you like._

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	7. Part V- Reign (2nd half)

Buckle in – IF I've done this right it will be a rough ride. After this, I'm going back to my orig thingy for a while. If you're interested in knowing about whatever I try to do next, "follow" me. Thanks so much for coming on this little foray with me! {heart}

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**So, I figure you can look at this thing two ways:**

You can trust me and sit back and enjoy the show by reading this like the emotional experience it is written to be…

Or you can walk out of the theatre, rent the dvd and watch it with the lights turned on by skimming to the end or trolling the reviews. ;-)

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Either way… thanks for reading and hope you enjoy.

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**V – Reign **

_(2nd half)_

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The evening trundled toward midnight like a freight train while howls twisted with the lightning and the darkness splintered under sledgehammer skies.

The waiting.

It was always the hardest part.

As was tradition, the Pack had lit fires in steel barrels in both front yard and back. It was both warning and reminder of what would befall any leech that dared step foot this deep on their lands.

And it was always eerie. Watching flames sputter and dance, so hot and well-tended by the restless youngest of the Pack that it evaporated the rain- they could never forget that they were in the middle of a war.

"Honey you should come rest," Malia sighed from the doorway of the kitchen.

Bella looked up from where she was cutting up the left-over ham at the table for omelets when they returned (because they all _would_).

Dark circles showed the stress around her friend's eyes as she rocked a whining Liam against her shoulder - the kids always knew.

The older ones were old enough to be truly frightened this time, but they had fallen asleep _at last_, in a big puppy pile in Sam and Bella's bed - which was the only place they wanted to be. She wondered if it had anything to do with innate comfort and safety of their Alpha's scent. Children always listened to their instincts better.

But the younger ones wouldn't be put down anywhere and clung to their parents. Bella's own baby was tossing restlessly in her belly too.

With a soft gasp, Bella dropped the knife and pressed her wrist against a particularly sharp jab at a rib. She wasn't even that big yet but the kid was already playing hardball.

"You okay?" Malia frowned as she crossed into the room.

Bella looked up from the cutting board with a nod. "Yeah, he's nervous too," she smiled wanly.

"No," Malia corrected her as she stopped on the other side of the table. "Are you _okay_?" she asked with a pointed glance at Bella's hands.

Her gaze fell to where they were shaking like leaves.

Bracing both palms against the table to still the tremors, Bella hung her head for a moment. Frankly, she was going out of her mind with worry – like every last person in this house. Sam had known an attack by the Denali clan was inevitable, they'd drilled and prepared and had been warned… but it never made it easy. Their men (and woman) might have been destined to shapeshift and fight nightmares, but as mates they also had a unique fate:

Waiting.

Bella should be used to it by now. Over the span of her relationship with Paul, she'd endured five major conflicts – the worst of them being centered around her. But it was different.

Everything was different now.

In her periphery, she watched Malia sit down on the bench across the table, straddling it and casting dubious eyes her way. "Bella?" she whispered.

Bella pressed her lips together for a moment and then looked up. The fire from outside was casting spooky twisting shadows against the wall and the house was as still as a graveyard.

"I love him," Bella whispered.

Malia's brow raised and she nodded silently.

"I mean, like, in a way I've never loved anyone," Bella continued, collapsing sideways on the bench on her side. Her eyes darted to the licking riotous flames outside.

"We know."

Malia's whisper jerked her head around.

"C'mon, Jay's known for a while," she murmured out of the corner of a wry smile.

Bella sniffed and her gaze fell to the table. Her hand came up to fiddle with the knife while her mind spun. She hadn't talked to anyone about her feelings – Jacob was her best childhood friend but he was a boy and Angela and Malia had been uncomfortable plus had busy families to tend to.

"Sam loves you too, y'know," Malia whispered across the table. "It's a really pretty thing to see."

Bella's eyes cut up to where she was watching her carefully. "He wants to mark me," she breathed. "It breaks the imprint, but I'm scared."

"It's a scary thing," Malia shifted Liam on her shoulder.

Bella canted her head with a frown.

"I mean, it's scary to make a decision that's for the rest of your life," Malia said quietly. Liam mewled once and she stroked his sweaty head absently while those bright green eyes washed cannily over her face. "With imprinting-…" she laughed with a roll of her eyes. "You're not really doing much thinking."

Bella joined in with a chuckle and distracted smile.

"But here – after all you've been through - you have all cylinders running," she wiggled her eyebrows. "You know you're getting an intense guy. A 24/7 dangerous job. A million pounds of crazy wrapped in a bunch of bullshit too."

Bella scraped her lip with her teeth.

"Imprinting's about the heart, Bella," Malia's voice returned to serious. "Marking's about ownership. Is that what he wants?"

With a long sigh, Bella's gaze slipped back down to the table and she rearranged a piece of ham.

Marking bound a woman's body and soul to the man who marked her and all sales were exclusive and final in a bunch of different ways. Now she understood why only the Alpha was allowed to mark a woman– she was technically his property to do with as he wanted.

But Bella wasn't Sam's property. She never had been, really. Sam was a cutthroat strategist. And even if he'd used the almighty "Alpha's Prerogative" -whatever he had at his disposal - to get what he wanted, he'd done so because he wanted her. Because he _loved_ her. The real kind - the messy crazy kind of devotion that had already brought them through the worst of times.

To this place: _home_.

And, all things considered, like Sam, she didn't really care about what other people thought of their road to get here. It was insane, strategic, twisted – but it was theirs and she liked where it was going.

No, marking wasn't about property. It was about something _very different_ for them.

A soft silky smile fluttered over Bella's lips – it was ethereal kind that was a direct reflection of her soul.

Malia shifted on her seat and she looked up to where her friend was gently bouncing the child with that unassuming patience that she shared with her mate.

"Sam and I are changing all the rules," she whispered.

Sea green eyes paced back and forth between hers for several heartbeats while her mouth stretched into a slow sly smile.

"Yes. You. Are," she hummed as those lips cracked to show teeth and her own kind of sun.

For several minutes both women just looked at each other, while Liam gurgled and shook his fists and the fire outside threw supple snakelike shadows over the walls and rafters.

Finally Malia changed Liam to the other shoulder. "Y'know, Bella," she grinned "Jake's over the moon that you finally found someone who deserves you – because he knows best," she flicked her eyes. "But I think so too."

"Thanks," Bella sniffed a laugh. "Now we-…

Jackknife pain made the words shatter on her tongue.

Bella's shoulders caved at the same time her fingers snapped up to press against her chest. She hadn't felt that kind of ache since…

"Bella!" Malia worried, standing abruptly and making little Liam wail with the surprise.

Bella swallowed thickly, gathering herself for a moment before she looked back up. "It's okay," she whispered. "Just the baby."

She'd always been horrible at lying and the way Malia's eyes darted between hers told her that hadn't changed.

Bella yanked off all pretenses like a veil.

"Go upstairs, Mal," she ordered, quietly, firmly. "Don't come down."

"B-Bella-…" Malia stammered, taken aback even while eyes sped ahead of her brain and inflated with fear.

"Go," Bella repeated, standing up. "Tell Sam I love him if I don't get a chance, 'kay?"

Sensing his mother's fear, Liam's cries escalated.

Bella could see that she wanted to ask more questions but the strange compulsion she now seemed to have was almost physically dragging her back. She stumbled toward the door, casting frantic eyes over the room and then whipped around and ran down the hall.

She listened to her feet pound fearfully up the stairs.

Feeling like she was trying to swallow a golf ball, Bella pushed the bench and stepped back to her cutting board. Her hand slipped around the handle of the long chef's knife and her eyes ran the length of the shining blade while her mind spun.

And then started rhythmically chopping again.

Her eyes cut up from her lashes to the fire dancing across the far wall. Watching.

From shadow play flames, a hulking shape rose like a demon.

Bella's heart fluttered and flailed like a staked moth in her chest while she watched the silhouette of a man move across the porch while her knife counted the seconds with blind rhythmic chops.

The hinges on the screen door groaned… and then it clattered quietly closed.

And Bella waited.

"Did you miss me?" a dark whisper beside her ear made her jump – they were so quick and silent.

She squeezed her eyes closed and bit her lip harder as a fingertip ghosted up her neck to push her hair behind her ear.

"My wife," he breathed over the shell.

The stench of alcohol wafted over her, making her stomach turn – he was as drunk as the day she'd hoped she'd left him behind. Pressing the blade into the cutting board, her hand tightened on the knife.

"What do you want, Paul?" Bella bit out through gritted teeth. It was better than having them chatter.

His hand slipped around her neck, cradling her jaw between thumb and forefingers in a way that was sinister not sensual.

With a brusque jerk of his wrist he tipped her head to the side. "What's mine," he murmured over her skin and he drew his nose up her pulse.

Bella turned out of his arms and brought the knife up between them. "I'm not yours anymore."

But the blade nearly clattered to the floor - she wasn't prepared for the way it would feel to look him in the eye.

He was still just as handsome as he was cocky. Head tipped to the side with his signature smirk hitching up his mouth and the opposite brow, he was dressed in only cutoffs, with dark stains over his skin and down his pants –only highlighting that abnormally perfect body. He was clever, sexual, wry – the prototype bad boy with just enough heart in his eyes to make a girl think she could change him.

Bella knew better.

But fate didn't seem to care. The imprint dug painful claws into her heart and that wry smile deepened with a suggestive jump of brow.

"Barefoot, pregnant," his eyes darted down her body and then swept the room. "Nice house. Just what you always wanted - I couldn't give it to you good enough, huh?"

Bella took another step back, raising the knife up in warning. "It was n-never about any of that," she hissed, hating that her voice shook.

He turned back to her with a lupine tip of his head and that smirk deepened. "But I bet he doesn't fuck as good as me," he winked.

"Sam doesn't _fuck_ me," Bella spat, the pilot light of temper flickering in the winds of fear.

"Liar," he leered, cocking his head the other way with a long suggestive sniff.

Bella's nose wrinkled in disgust as she took another step back. She kept one free hand on the paltry grounding of the table while she brandished the knife in delusional pretense.

This was a _wolf_.

Paul coughed a laugh, obviously thinking the same thing. "Bringing a knife to a dogfight?" His lips evened out in a slow disparaging smile. "Maybe it would have helped good ole, Seth 'n Toby."

With a gasp she suddenly realized just what he had to get through to make it into this kitchen…

And what the stains were on his chest and thighs.

Her eyes darted worriedly outside. "Paul! What -…?"

In a single head-spinning movement she was being pulled back against a rock-solid chest, a hand wrapped tightly around her wrist.

"You can't afford to fight, babe," he whispered in her ear, as he squeezed the tendons in her wrist until the knife fell from her numb fingers. "Risk his bastard son?"

He caught the blade before it hit the floor with casual reflexes.

"Paul, leave her alone," Josiah's deep voice called sternly from the doorway.

In the next instant that knife was whizzing across the room. It landed with a dull thud in the molding beside Josiah's head.

"Why don't you mind your _own_ _fucking business_!" Paul snarled, volatile temper going from zero to sixty in a second flat.

Josiah splayed out placating hands.

"Babe, tell him," he ground out in her ear.

Her breath was hitching over bucking tears, but somehow she steadied it as she called out with as much confidence as she could scrape together.

"Josi, go upstairs," Bella soothed, trying to keep her voice low for both the wolf and the worried man across the room. "Please. Don't let anyone else come down."

Josiah's eyes darted up to Paul and then back to Bella even as his feet seemed to carry him backwards against his will.

"You always did have a mouth, didn't you," Paul snickered quietly in her ear. "It took months of eating rabbits before this BULLSHIT!"

He yelled as he jerked her around to face him. "WORE OFF!"

Bella's swallow squirted in the back of her throat past her frantic racing breath. She had absolutely no idea what to do – if it were just herself, she'd scratch and kick and bite and at least go down fighting.

But it wasn't just her. Not anymore.

Paul was just starting to understand that. A quick disconcerted tongue darted over his lips as his eyes oozed down her body, as if truly seeing her for the first time. "

"Holy shit," he coughed, as if trying to laugh but it stalled on his tongue. "You are so fucking pregnant. I didn't-…"

Bella snapped to attention in the uncertainty.

His eyes slipped back up to hers with a flash of human insecurity and suddenly she understood: _he hadn't planned this out._

Bella would use whatever she could.

"You didn't realize I just had a few more months," she whispered, keeping her voice soothing and calm. "I know you'd never hurt a child." She didn't think he had that level of malice in him – even at his worst.

His double blink confirmed both of her theories.

Paul's wild eyes searched her face for a moment while his lips flashed up several uncoordinated times from his teeth. Then he released her so roughly, she stumbled back against the bench. He hadn't thought things through: he was running on pure illogical revenge exacerbated by months of running wild without Pack. He'd been unstable to begin with…

He turned his back on her and shoved his hands through his hair.

Bella tried to let all the terror slip from her shoulders as she searched for any image that brought her peace so she could offer it to that madness. The image swam clearly to the front of her mind's eye: _looking into Sam's still black eyes while he made love to her._

Bella sucked in a slow breath, drawing strength from the memory. "I'll come back after," she murmured putting everything she had into the cashmere words. "I'm your wife, your imprint…" She suddenly discovered that it was easy to lie when so many precious things were on the line.

"Please, we can start again," she whispered pleadingly to his back. The muscles were rippling down it and she couldn't tell whether he was close to caving or exploding. "Honey-…."

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" he whipped around on her with a snarl that sprayed foam. "Do you think I'm _fucking stupid_!?"

Bella shook her head brusquely as she backed away from him, holding herself up against the table.

"He took what's _mine_!" he bared vicious teeth as he stomped a step toward her. "_My_ imprint. _My_ wife. _My_ mate! He doesn't get to fucking keep it!"

Picking up a bench he threw it across the room with a crash as he advanced on her.

"I know, it's unfair," she gasped, backing up, fear finally getting her in a chokehold. "But w-we can fix it -"

A heartbreaking human groan of agony from outside stopped her in her tracks and snipped terror's biting cord.

Bella's eyes darted out to the back porch. "Are they okay," she whispered.

"Yeah," he laughed darkly. "Toby's crying like a baby. Poor little bastard."

Bella froze. "What did you do?" she whispered.

"What I do best," Paul snarled. "Break shit."

Then he lunged and yanked her to his side – she didn't even try to fight it.

His gaze ran over her face with a crooked smile. "Seth's only got about 10 before he bleeds out, so you'd better shut the fuck up and do what I say."

Nodding solicitously, her eyes met his – wild and ruined there wasn't anything left of the man she'd known. As much a victim of fate as them all, he'd made his own choices on how to play the hand he'd been dealt.

The balance between compassion and accountability was always a razors edge and Bella was a bloody mess from toeing his line. She wouldn't do it anymore. She gave up and wasn't surprised in the least by the way hate seeped in almost instantly to fill the empty spaces.

Everything was about survival now - her baby's, her Pack...

"Let's go," she whispered.

He probably saw just what he wanted in her face – which was very nearly always control. A slow lazy smile nestled in the corner of his mouth as his eyes darted over her with a covetous intensity – like a kid who'd just gotten a new toy.

A rough hand slipped up to her cheek.

She blinked rapidly under his touch as he stroked clumsily over her jaw, eyes following his finger.

"Beautiful," he sniffed. "And so fucking mine."

Bella could smell the tang of her friends' blood and feel the hated imprint buckle in her chest, oily and goading. She hated it and she hated this man. It rallied behind her lips like convulsive vomit as he leaned down.

Then he kissed her.

Bella's eyes snapped closed like it could take her physically away from the way his mouth moved, hot and demanding over hers. The imprint's incessant prickle settled out into a low soothing hum, but it was _nothing_ compared to the agony lancing through her heart.

No matter what the gods had scripted, this wasn't the man she wanted. This wasn't the man she loved.

Paul pulled back, breathless and pleased with himself and leaned into her ear. "I'm going to fuck you so good tonight," he whispered. "And mark you. Mine," he hissed.

Then he straightened and pulled her up in his arms like she weighed nothing.

"Tell him I took what was his!" He called out to the house as he strode through the kitchen toward the front door. "Tell him I won!"

Bella pressed her lips together over sobs that wanted to leap free, but there were still things that needed to be done.

As they passed through the living room she looked up to the landing where Josiah was peering down with anguished eyes.

"Seth's injured – and Toby too," she gasped up to them. "Come down and help them when we're gone." She didn't know how long the compulsion would last.

"Smart," Paul sniffed, as he pulled open the door. "Guess ordering people around comes natural. Was it fun being the Alpha's bitch?" He spat off to the side. "We'll have fun too."

Bella didn't answer but just closed her eyes against the rock and sway of his gait down the stairs and tried not to be sick.

Redemptive rain fell over her skin as they left the porch overhang. Out front, she could hear the crackle of the fire over the thunder breaking like a wave against the edges of the night.

She'd dared to start hoping. But once again fate had reached in with cold clammy hands and yanked her back from where she'd thought she'd managed to escape.

Paul rearranged her in his arms and she opened her eyes to see him rip open Jacob's SUV. The reflection of the flames flickered over the shiny black making it look like a chariot of fire.

He shoved her brusquely into the cab and then with a cocky wink and a jerk of his wrist, he snapped off the inside door handle.

But suddenly Paul's face jerked up with a frown. In the next heartbeat her human ear caught the long low howl, twisting in the distance with others like silken threads that hemmed the night.

"They're so fucking outnumbered how-…" his snarled words were lopped off by the slamming of the door behind him.

It was the first scrap of hope she'd been thrown and she snatched it up like a rabid dog.

Someone might be coming – she needed to stall for time.

Bella's hand darted out to the automatic lock and all the doors jumped with a pert snick. Snatching the keys from the cup holder, she threw herself up against the door and as far away from the driver's side as she could, biting her lip and hoping she wasn't making a mistake.

Paul was already peering through the window.

With a livid flash of teeth, he punched through the thick glass like a wrecking ball and a low threatening growl tumbled in his chest as he tore open the door.

As he was climbing in, Bella frantically lobbed the keys toward the back of the vehicle but he snatched them out of the air with supernatural reflexes.

Frantic, she clawed after his hand, trying to wrench them out of his grip. He pulled her off the seat with her effort and with last desperate measures, she sunk her teeth into his hand – as hard a she could.

Paul dropped the keys with a bellow of rage and his fist dove into the back of her hair. With a brusque twist of his arm, he slammed her face into the dashboard, hard enough to make her see stars.

"You think he cares about you?!" he yelled, snatching the keys from the floor while Bella pitched back against the seat, heated liquid oozing down her lips from a bloody nose.

"Fathers! Teachers! Alphas! They're ALL THE SAME!" he screamed at her. "They don't give a shit about anyone but themselves!"

She could feel his vehement spittle spray across her cheek, while she tipped her face up to the ceiling and tried to breathe through the pain and the blood pouring over her lip.

"You have to fucking _TAKE_ what you want!"

Gasping, Bella turned dizzily to his berserker eyes. Face livid and wild he was foaming at the mouth with rage.

This man was her husband: the first man she'd let into her body and tried to hold in her heart. She'd accepted her fate and tried so hard.

"I gave you everything I had," she told him quietly.

"Yeah!?" he bellowed. "Then why do I have fucking NOTHING!"

Bella swallowed down the rusty taste of blood while the world spun. "Because you threw it away, Paul," she whispered.

With a savage snarl, he slammed his hands on the steering wheel so hard it dented. Bella pushed farther against the door as he bared rabid teeth, like he was contemplating simply ripping off her head while he fumbled blindly to shove the keys into the steering column.

Gunning the engine he whipped around to the front of the car.

"FUCK!"

Bella's woozy gaze darted out the front windshield. Illuminated by the headlights, Jacob Black was standing rain-slicked and silent in front of the car.

Baring his teeth, Paul punched the pedal to the floor to run him over.

But at the same time, Jacob threw his big body like a linebacker into the grill.

With a shriek over the deafening crash, Bella pitched across the cab and into the door while the vehicle fishtailed wildly, careening off into a tree. She hadn't even caught her breath before rough hands were dragging her across the seat and out of the car.

Paul held her against his chest by a choking forearm and Bella's hands went up frantically to try to pry free a lungful of air.

"You think you have a fucking chance in _hell_ of beating me, Black?" Paul was roaring behind her. "That blue blood don't do shit anymore! I'm not a part of this Pack!"

Feet dangling ten inches off the ground, Bella clawed at his arm while he dragged her back like a cornered animal caught with prey– which was exactly what he was.

He froze at the sound of a deep voice slithering out of the darkness like a viper – slick and cold and deadly.

_"That is true."_

Paul whipped around to where Sam was stalking from the trees and into the flickering light of the fire. Loose damp hair flying behind him like a trail of smoke, his eyes were chilling black diamond set in indomitable bronze.

That stare didn't waver from the man holding her captive. "You're choking her," he hissed, lips flashing vicious canine points to his teeth.

Paul almost absently loosened his grip and Bella's toes stretched to the ground as she sucked in a breath.

"Th-there was a whole coven-…" he stammered, his shock obviously overrunning his defenses. Though he had the mind, Paul lacked the patience and discipline for strategy – he'd never gone for anything that couldn't be gained by brute force alone. He must have been watching and waited for this fight - but he could never plan enough for Sam Uley...

Sam tipped his head to the side while he continued to take slow slinking steps toward them. "I killed them all," he whispered.

"Seth is hurt," Bella coughed, as soon as she could draw enough air.

"Brady has him," Jacob hissed in her periphery.

Sam continued to take slow liquid steps toward them. "Are you ready to die, Paul?" His words were a hushed sing-song lullaby.

"You know how easy it is to snap their necks," Paul spat behind her, pulling her feet off the ground again in his vehemence. "It'll fucking kill them both!"

Sam's feet froze in their approach while Bella tried to find purchase on her tiptoes. His voice cracked like a whip. "She's my _mate_."

Paul exploded behind her. "She's MINE! My wife! My IMPRINT!"

"Then fight me for her like an animal," Sam hissed, his nose wrinkling with a flash of feral canines. "Not with the weakness of man."

"Yeah! That's fair," Paul spat. "As soon as I let her go, your Pack's gonna bring me down."

Sam cocked his head, the light breeze pulling at his hair. "I fight my own battles," he purred.

Paul barked a bitter laugh.

While she waited for her captor to decide whether she lived or died, Bella could do nothing but stare across the driveway at that man standing still and emotionless, backlit by flame. She begged for his eyes – that comfort, the stillness.

Unheeded tears gave halos to the fire on their way to mixing with the blood. It dribbled over her over her lips with rusted salt.

"A fair fight to show who's best!" Paul bellowed suddenly. But even he knew that every word of Sam Uley's was a blood oath. "_Give me your word!"_

Sam didn't hesitate a heartbeat and gave him a curt nod.

Then, for the first time, Sam's eyes darted down to Bella's. They paced back and forth between hers with brusque jerking movements and then did a crisp circuit of her face. Then they closed briefly before opening to the ground between them while the muscles jumped in his jaw.

He ground the words with his molars like broken glass. "Let her go _now_."

Paul shifted on his feet – she could feel him gearing up. His muscles flexing and the potent scent of testosterone rising off his skin.

"Your Pack won't interfere," Paul he checked again. "And if I win you give me _everything."_

Sam's black eyes snapped back up. "Yes," he whispered.

She could feel Paul nod behind her as his arm slipped from around her throat. She slouched over, breath heaving through her nose while she pressed her lips together over her rebelling stomach. She knew Sam was going to kill him.

The thing that made her sick was that she wanted him to.

A sudden hand fisting into her hair brusquely pulled her back. With a shriek of surprise, her gaze snapped up to Paul's sneer.

Goading eyes pointedly locked on the man across the grass, Paul bent down and smothered her mouth in a lecherous kiss.

Bella gagged on his tongue, as she desperately tried to push against his stonewall chest.

With a long prurient hum, he pulled back with a dark smirk as his eyes found hers. "For luck," he whispered. "Enjoy the show." With that, he threw her away and she stumbled to the ground, pushing up on her hands and knees while her gaze frantically found Sam's.

The muscles jumped in his face like it was all he could do to hold his human form.

"Careful," she mouthed silently.

Eyes that were black and human held hers for a heartbeat longer then his nostrils stretched and in one fell blink they flared with incandescent rage.

Whipping around, he prowled out into the front yard and away from where Jacob had fallen to his knees at her side in the grass.

Paul stalked after him slamming a fist into each palm cracking his knuckles with a rolling pop.

"You should know by now," Paul hissed.

And that's when she saw it: the kitchen knife, shoved into the back waistband of his shorts.

"Sam!" she yelled.

Paul drew the blade just as Sam spun around.

"I never fight fair," Paul ground out as he thrust the dagger home in his gut.

Not a sound left his lips as, Sam doubled over in his arms. Paul wrapped a burly arm around his neck and wrenched him back against his chest. Yanking the knife from his body, he plunged it into his chest.

It had taken two seconds.

Pack members swarmed from the shadows, tearing Paul away while he fought them with rabid snarls. The yells around her sounded a million miles away.

Straining against Jacob's grip, Bella watched in horror as Sam staggered a step, his hand coming up to the hilt of the knife, buried in his chest.

As if in slow motion, he keeled down to one knee catching himself heavily with a forearm against his thigh. Shocking viscous crimson, sluiced over his lips and onto the grass.

And time stood still.

Bella's rasping breath echoed in her ears, slow and jagged.

Each raindrop crashed against her cheek like a needle.

Soft soothing thunder swaddled her in fleece.

And in the halo of light cast by the fire, Sam looked up and met her eyes.

Then his head lolled forward.

Like a starting gun had gone off, sounds and time caved in on her with suffocating overwhelm.

Suddenly Jacob's body jerked violently behind her, jettisoning her free while a chorus of distant howls climbed the night.

Frantic, Bella crawled and scrabbled across the gravel, but careful hands caught her again, pulling her off torn hands and knees.

"Bella, stop," Jacob's voice whispered in her ear.

Something about the way he said it froze her instantly. Biting her lip, her eyes snapped to the man slumped in the flickering circle of firelight.

Her Alpha. Her lover. Her mate.

The man she loved.

Head bowed, for a moment Sam clumsily fingered the obscene wooden handle of the knife. Then his fist wrapped around it and he yanked it from his chest with a soft grunt.

Lurching unsteadily to his feet, he caught himself on the car and the knife tumbled from his fingers to the ground.

Hair plastered to his forehead in the rain and blood streaming from both nose and mouth, he lifted his head like it weighed a million pounds.

"You lied, motherfucker!" Paul was screaming, from where he fought the anonymous hands holding him to the ground.

Sam slowly smeared the back of his hand over his mouth. "Let him go," he rasped, the words sounding gurgling and wrong.

Paul pushed reluctant wolves away and fought to his feet with an ungrateful snarl.

Bella's pleading eyes turned to Jacob. "Help him."

"I can't," he breathed. "He gave me the Pack."

With ballooning eyes, Bella whipped around to Jacob's serious profile. Sam had given him everything so it couldn't be taken away.

"As leader I must respect his honor," his eyes cut over to her and he rolled his lips once. "Now, he's only fighting for you."

With a sob, her gaze darted back out to where Sam took an unsteady step, swaying on his feet. He caught himself against the vehicle again with the heavy thunk of metal.

"Like taking candy from a baby," Paul was rolling his shoulders and shaking out his arms as he slunk forward. "You watching this, babe?"

Sam pushed himself off the car, staggering a step. "I didn't fight hard enough the first time," he whispered, all silk cloak and daggers. "I should…" he swallowed thickly and took another wavering step toward where Paul bounced on the balls of his feet.

"The first time?" Paul barked a taunting laugh. "You just handed her-…"

Sam exploded forward, his first punch catching Paul square in the face with a deafening crack. His body flew across the grass but Sam had landed on his chest like a cat before he'd hit the ground, with the next brutal hit locked and loaded.

And the next.

"I… should… have… never," he snarled, each syllable accentuated by the thud of punishing blow to Paul's face that snapped it back and forth. "Let… you… _fucking touch her_!"

Paul finally recovered from being caught off-guard and blocked the next blow, using the momentum to throw his opponent.

Tumbling through the air, Sam landed heavily face-down and Paul twisted up… and onto four feet. Snarling, the grey wolf charged with gnashing teeth.

In a blur, Sam flipped over and caught the beast's jaws inches from his face.

For several of Bella's stumbling heartbeats, they stayed locked like this: giant maw drizzling liquid hate while a bloody Sam held it open with inhuman strength.

Somehow he'd managed to get his feet up between them. Sam struck out with a brutal kick that sent the animal flying through the air. It landed on the SUV with a yelp and crash of broken glass.

Sam pushed up to hands and knees and then sprang up after him, transforming mid-air into a jet-black wolf that ripped into his stunned prey.

In a flurry of fur and shadow and ferocious snarls, the two animals tumbled out into the woods past where Bella's mortal vision could follow.

Jacob had dragged her to the edges of the lawn and now he scooped her up in his arms. "Oh, God, honey," he whispered as he backed up, keeping his eyes trained on the woods and the sounds of crashing trees punctuated by snarls and yelps of pain.

His brother came running down the steps. "The imprints are out of the house," he hissed.

"Good," Jacob nodded as he set her down on the bottom step. "Seth?"

"On his way to the clinic," Embry gasped.

Bella's eyes were frantically trying to make out shapes in the woods. Lightning slashed the sky and thunder broke overhead like a dirge while the flames licked and ate at the hissing rain.

"Lee, Quil, Jared," Jacob called tensely. "When he comes back, we take Paul down together."

"What about-?" Embry began with a frown.

He interrupted his brother with a look. "You have the Pack."

"Jake," Bella hissed, pushing up to her feet. "Who's winning?"

She swayed forward as the world tilted on its axis and he steadied her with a hand.

Jacob pressed his lips together as he pushed her wet hair back from her face. "Sam's hurt bad," he told her quietly. He always gave it to her straight. "Honey, we can't heal fast enough-…"

Bella's eyes darted between his frantically, searching for hope.

She found none.

"I don't understand how he's still standing," Jared hissed under his breath.

Jacob's hand fell heavily to the nape of her neck and his thumb soothed over in that space behind her ear. "Love," he whispered.

Bella bit her lips on more tears while she listened to the chilling sounds of savagery out in the woods.

"Back up," Jacob murmured pulling her up the steps with him.

Seconds later, two wolves tumbled back into the ring of firelight. Yellow eyes burning with primal hate, their pelts were matted and soaked, with gaping patches of bared flesh torn into each hide.

Bella's hand clapped over her mouth as the two beasts rolled across the grass in a bloodthirsty no-holds barred melee.

With a twisting attack, the grey wolf had the black one pinned below it, but Sam quickly phased, using the human size differential to roll free.

Paul snapped back into his flesh and they traded blows with a round house kick and several fists to the face before Sam got the upper hand.

With a feint and a wicked elbow to the ribs he followed up with a lightning flip that slammed Paul into the ground so hard the porch vibrated. Sam pinned him to the ground by a burly forearm.

Snarling with bared teeth, a fierce bucking throw dislodged him. But as Sam's body flew through air, it transformed, barely landing on four paws before springing again for the throat.

With a lithe twist, Paul was on his feet again and diving into fur to meet the assault head on. And in a snarling tackle, he'd taken the black animal down again.

Immobilized, the ebony wolf squirmed, barely avoiding the wicked teeth snapping inches from his neck. Sam shifted desperately back to skin, but the grey wolf seemed to anticipate the move this time and kept the man pinned firmly to the ground.

Heavy forepaws impossibly restraining Sam's shoulder, the animal reared back, baring fang for the death blow.

Bella barely had time to scream before, eyes on fire, Sam bit savagely into the animal's forepaw with wicked hybrid teeth.

Then he phased.

The chalky crack of bone shattered the silence with the violence of the transformation before a feral wail of pain was beaten down by pitiless thunder.

No sooner had the black wolf slipped free from its stunned foe, rabid jaws were lunging again. Pulverizing a hindquarter this time, its prey flailed in pain loosing an agonized howl.

The front yard was suddenly silent.

The rain tapped against the metal roof and whispered over trees while the fire flickered and sputtered. Tears were streaming down Bella's face as she gasped, desperately trying to process what had happened through numbing shock.

Snuffling softly with plumes of steaming breath, the ebony wolf's assessing step stayed just out of reach while the beast futilely struggled to stand in the churned up mud. With two crushed legs it was crippled helpless.

Then the black wolf backed up, its hulking muscular form contracting. Shadow seemed to fall away from the hunched body of a man as the sleek black fur receded from skin.

Sam straightened slowly, and then stumbled forward a step, falling back to knuckles and one knee as his form seemed to buckle like a mirage.

On the second try he brought himself fully into his skin and stood until he was pulling his shoulders back.

Then with an animalistic snarl he lunged for the grey wolf, panting on its side. The muscles bulged down his arms as he ripped the beast up off the ground by scruff of the neck and into his chest. The creature was so big that the animal's front forepaws barely hung from the ground, one batting pitifully at the air and the other mangled and hanging useless.

Sam's hiss was like the whisper of death and something that had no right to be heard this side of hell.

"I want to kill you as a man."

With a whine, the animal feebly struggled in his grip.

"PHASE!" he bellowed, shaking the huge wolf.

"No," Bella gasped, fighting with Jacob's frantic hands.

Fur seemed to melt off skin like a nightmare as the beast slowly transformed until Paul's battered body was limply hanging from Sam's grip, wrenched back against his chest.

With a fist in his hair, Sam's hand clawed over Paul's throat.

"Sam!" Bella screamed, flailing against her restraints.

"Bella, no," Jacob gasped in her ear.

She whipped around with bared teeth. "If you love me, let me go," she hissed.

He stared at her a heartbeat longer and then she was stumbling down the stairs.

"Sam!" Bella called out again, her voice somehow steady and strong this time.

At the sound, Sam's face whipped around and Bella froze. Never had he looked less human.

Lit by unforgiving firelight, hell was peeking through his eyes and his bared canines were stained by blood. But still he had that savage grace, his spine was strait and proud while long black hair rippled across broad shoulders with the rivulets of rain. Every muscle held his body perfectly balanced and taut.

"Kill him as the wolf," she murmured, softening her voice.

She took careful steady steps toward him through the churned up earth while her wet cotton dress clung to her thighs.

Bella tried to just feel – to stay rooted by each rasping breath that echoed in her ear, each thudding beat of her heart.

She could feel the mud between her toes, the rain against her skin… their baby moving inside her.

She could feel that even lost to the beast, Sam still filled the whole of her being.

"But Sam," she said quietly. "Don't kill him in this skin."

The wind sighed through the trees bringing down handfuls of rain and wrapping her dress around her pregnant middle.

"_Animals_ fight for mates," she continued in a hushed voice. "But the man won my heart long before tonight."

She could see the muscles jumping with his feral grimace, as if desperately trying to understand the human words.

"Don't kill for love, Sam," she whispered. She could hear both men's heaving breath, rasping and rough from abuse.

Bella stopped only ten feet away. "Kill him as the _wolf_," she breathed. "I've already given myself to the man."

Pressing her lips together, she waited.

Sam's nostrils flared once, even as his lips jumped up from his canines in feral contradiction. His clawed fingers were digging so fiercely into Paul's throat that blood pooled around his nails and ran in rivulets down his chest.

She felt small and fragile and human standing in the mud before these huge savage men. But she wasn't afraid. Her eyes stayed locked with his, feral, heated and wild.

Just waiting. She'd love him either way.

In the distance thunder murmured on the horizon, low and dusky. She could feel the heat radiating from the fire in the barrel, soaking through her wet clinging shift and warming her skin. She could feel the droplets of water dripping from her hair down her bare arms, the way it ran down her cheeks with her tears and joined with the rusted blood from her nose.

So much violence.

All she'd wanted was love. It's all any of them wanted – even if they didn't understand.

Sam shifted. Just a shuffle in the wet grass.

"Look at her."

It took a second for Bella to realize Sam had spoken – his voice was gritty and raw and as deep as the thunder steeping the night.

Yanking Paul's head back he hissed again in his ear. "Look at her."

Paul's wild bloodshot eyes blinked open and rolled forward.

Without an expression on her face, Bella kept her eyes locked with Sam's. She watched the struggle rage in holocaust eyes and met it with all the tenderness in her being. He'd been fighting for a while.

Now she was here to fight at his side.

Sam's bloody mouth quivered with jumps and starts of words before a tongue skimmed over his lower lip.

Inhuman eyes locked with hers, he bent down closer to Paul's ear. "You know what's worse than nothing?" he breathed, deep and rough and barely audible over the rain.

"Knowing you had it all."

With a flash of canines Sam released him, throwing his body forcefully to the ground.

Silence.

For several silent seconds, he held her captive with those eyes - He loved her. He was a warrior in all things and he'd fight to the death for her - even if it was against himself.

Bella spread her arms in pleading invitation. "Come," she whispered.

Sam took two unsteady steps toward her and then crumbled heavily down to both knees. He sat back on his heels as Bella worriedly stumbled the last step, her hands hovering uncertainly over the damage.

He bowed his head and her fingers stroked his wet hair back from his face. At the heated touch of his skin, her instinct took over. Palms smoothed over his cheeks, frantically cupping his jaw, while her eyes ran over his stoic face and bathed him in her tears.

She wondered if he even felt the pain.

"Sam," she breathed, pulling his head tenderly to her breast.

Suddenly an invisible cord viscerally popped and fluttered free like it had been snipped, releasing her heart into an unfettered sprint. It quickly inflated to cradle all the love she had for the man in her arms.

With a gasp, her eyes automatically darted behind Sam. Lying on his back with his good hand clawed over his heart, Paul was panting softly. Dark eyes were locked with hers and reflecting the fire.

"It's gone?" she breathed, pulling Sam's head more fiercely to her chest while his arms clumsily snaked around her back.

Paul's hand slipped heavily down to the grass as his eyes raised to the falling rain. "The wolf knows who is the better man," he whispered to the sky.

Bella stared at him for a moment in disbelief while her arms feverishly clasped Sam's face to her breast. Squeezing her eyes closed Bella pressed a kiss to the top of his head.

Then his arms slipped heavily to his lap.

"Are you okay, honey?" she hissed, smoothing a worried palm over his temple and trying to see his face.

"Bella," Jacob squatted down next to her.

She met his grave eyes and froze. Shaking her head briskly, she pulled him closer.

"Honey-…"

Like a marionette whose strings had been cut, Sam crumbled to the ground and his big body was too much for her puny human strength to hold. Jacob caught her and lifted her up into arms while Sam's body fell to the mud.

"Sam!" she shrieked, whipping around to where Jared and Embry were falling to their knees at his side.

His face was still. So very still.

"Get him inside!" Jacob bellowed as he strode with her across the lawn.

Bella nearly climbed his shoulder trying to watch Sam's limp body being lifted into his packmates' hands.

"Where does he want to be, Bells?" Jacob whispered, jogging up the steps.

"No!" she whipped around, eyes wild.

He pressed his lips together as he took the steps. "We'll get Sue, but honey-…"

"Don't say it!" she spat fiercely.

Someone opened the door and Jacob hastened into the house, turning sideways and checking over his shoulder on the men hoisting Sam's hulking body up onto the porch.

"Bedroom," Bella whispered, and collapsed against Jacob's shoulder.

With a grim jaw, Jacob climbed the steps two at a time. "Are you okay?" he breathed as he strode down the hall.

She looked up at him with numb eyes. She couldn't feel a thing right now –but she knew she was about as far from okay as she could get.

His brow softened. "The baby," he soundlessly mouthed the words.

Bella's hand automatically slipped to her stomach as she nodded, closing her eyes. Sam's child was strong.

Bella was going to have to be stronger.

The lamp was still lit on the nightstand, making the room feel serene – like it was a million miles and worlds away from war.

It wasn't.

Jacob set her gently down on the foot of the bed and then turned, buffing his palms on his cutoffs as he watched his brother, just backing through the doorway.

Bella went up on her knees, scooting out of the way as they maneuvered Sam to the bed.

Oh, it looked _so much worse_ in the light.

Aside from claw and teeth marks, angry bruises and lacerations, there was a long gash in his gut.

Worse still was the wound in his chest: blood trickled freely in lazy crimson rivulets along the harsh cut of his chest.

A shaking hand covered her mouth as she crawled up the bed beside him.

Someone brought towels from the bathroom and Bella grabbed at one and pressed it over the hole in his chest, trying to slow the flow.

At her touch, Sam's eyes fluttered open, immediately finding hers.

"Sam," Bella whispered, her palm slipping up to his cheek.

His gaze darted over her face for his usual inventory but his eyes were jerking and choppy.

A heavy hand fell to her shoulder, surprising a gasp past her lips. But it was only a pit stop on its weary way to her face. Gentle fingers fluttered over the swollen bridge of her nose.

"So sorry," he soundlessly mouthed the words then his hand fell heavily down to her knee.

"No," she breathed, shaking her head as she drowned in the endless stillness of his eyes.

They held her, swallowed her whole, took everything she freely offered. "Leave us," Sam whispered to the room.

Bella's gaze snapped up to Jacob. "Sue?"

"She's on her way," he murmured, his worried gaze washing over her face - and saying a million things she didn't want to hear. Ever.

Bella ripped her eyes away and returned them to the man staring up at her from the bed. "Leave us," she breathed.

As the door was quietly closed behind the last wolf, her hand smoothed over the ebony hair clinging to sweat and blood on his forehead.

"I found you. I've seen behind those eyes, Sam," she told him quietly. "I can't lose you."

His gazed washed over her face, collecting all the little jagged pieces of her heart. Then his lips softened in a pastel smile that completely transformed his face.

"Shh," he soothed. "It will be fine."

Suddenly she registered the wet heat under her fist and her gaze darted down to the rag, already soaking with blood.

With a gasp, she pulled it away and reached for another.

Her wrist was caught in his careful hand. Hands that she loved: patient, tender, loving hands.

"I need to hold you," he whispered, his voice husky and rough.

Bella searched his face… and then reached back and pulled the wet shift up over her head.

Relishing eyes traveled over her body and then back up to hers. His lips hitched up in a lazy smile as he held out his hand. "Come."

Bella lay down beside him as he achingly turned over, curling up behind her. Slowly, his heavy arm snaked around her, the fingers finding their usual way between her ribs and the bed.

He pressed his face into the back of her neck. "Mmm." His contented hum caught in her hair.

Tears were brimming to the breaking point in her eyes and she bit her lip fiercely to lock the gate. She tugged his hand out from her side and pressed it over her belly and the baby's flutters.

She heard him sniff a laugh and then his hand started to roam. Warm, tender, it caressed over her curves as he curled around her.

Bella nestled back against him, maximizing every millimeter of skin to skin.

"Sometimes words mean nothing," he whispered.

His calloused hand stroked over her, patient and indulgent like a Sunday morning.

She could feel him nestle close into her hair. "Sometimes they need to be said."

The words were nearly inaudible, the consonants crinkling intimately in her ear. "I love you. Since the beginning," he breathed. "Thank you for finding me, Bella."

Bella caught his hand and brought it up to her mouth. She pressed quivering lips to his knuckles while she tried swallow her tears.

"You can't leave, Sam," she whimpered over them.

"Shhh," he soothed.

She heard his thick swallow by her ear and then he drew in a long shuddering inhale …

It's counterpart exhale never came.

"Sam," she whispered, frantically rolling over.

She turned his head up from the pillow and sluggish lids struggled to raise over listing eyes.

Grabbing his face, she fell over him pressing a savage kiss to his mouth. His lips were lax and rusty with blood.

"You can't leave me," she hissed, squeezing his cheeks as her frenzied gaze ran over his face. "You _promised_ Sam. _It was part of the agreement_!" she shrieked.

Desperately trying to raise his eyedlids, Sam's lips quivered with words that were too heavy to push over them.

"You told me **I** could decide! I want YOU! You said he'd _know his father_!"

Bella sat up on her knees, shaking his face back and forth. "You AWAYS KEEP YOUR WORD!"

Sam's lids cracked open over black eyes that were swimming, the pupils wide and wild. He always fought so hard.

"You promised," she wept while she watched them lose the fight.

"Sam…"

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Days passed.

They slipped by so fast sometimes that Bella could barely believe it was the 10 year anniversary of that night.

Her gaze fell to the ceramic mug whose untouched tea was nearly room temperature now. She spun it slowly, fingering the handmade handle – she'd gotten it an annual Powwow a few years back.

She lifted the mug, drawing the scent of jasmine and green tea over her lips before she took a sip.

She just wasn't able to push anything down today.

And it was such a waste of sunshine.

Setting the drink down beside her on the steps, she braced her hands behind her and lifted her cheeks up to one of the rare perfect days of Washington's spring.

She'd always hated this day – her friends knew to steer clear with offers of babysitting by now. But whether it was the anniversary marking a decade or just the loneliness, this year it was really hitting her hard.

"Mom!"

A boy's voice had her sitting back up, her heart leaping, before she'd even remembered.

Jacob offered her a grin and a two fingered salute as he traipsed behind the boy with a fishing rod over his shoulder and a home depot bucket dangling from his hand.

Sammy was wearing one of those rare smiles that transformed that usually sober face. He was getting so big – in a few months he'd hit a decade too and he nearly came up to Jacob's shoulder.

"Did you catch anything?" she forced a smile.

"Yeah we did," he nodded proudly. "Uncle Jay said it's even big enough to eat."

Bella stood up tentatively and peeked over the side at the poor fish that was still jostling with the sway of the water. She wrinkled her nose.

"_Uncle Jay's_ cleaning it," she announced crisply.

Jacob shot her a cheeky wink. "For a price of course," he wiggled his brow.

"Blackmail," Bella mock gasped.

"I think he's going to barter for one of the pies," her child announced sagely. Sammy had his father's wit and wile, after all.

Jacob gave him a big fat snort that all but confirmed the failed ruse.

Bella's eyes returned to her son to find him studying her with those dark inscrutable eyes. They usually brought more joy to her life than she'd ever imagined possible… but today they just reminded her of Sam.

"It will be fine," her son told her soberly in a little boy's voice.

It made her heart seize in her chest.

"C'mere, honey," Bella tried to camouflage her disconcertion with mother-hen concern. "Your braid," she fretted, turning the child around on the steps.

He and Jacob exchanged glances that told her she wasn't fooling anyone.

While Jacob set the fish on the porch, Bella pulled off the band, slipping it over her wrist and then quickly combed out the braid with her fingers.

"You've got leaves and stuff," she scoffed, picking them out and flicking them down the stairs.

"God forbid he get _dirty_ down at the lake," Jacob tsked sarcastically in her ear.

With reflexes born of lots of practice, her fist shot out and landed a good one on his shoulder.

"Oww!" he wailed melodramatically, staggering across the stairs with some of his cheesy best.

Sammy turned and watched him with a boyish chuckle that reminded her that despite his lineage and nature, some part of his childhood had survived intact.

"Yeah, just a mere mortal now," Bella tossed him a megalomaniacal cackle. "That playing field's a lot flatter."

Jacob rolled his eyes with a macho turn on a dime and a fruitless scoff: "You wish."

But despite his pouty lips, Jacob hadn't had any problems giving up the wolf. In fact, most of the original Pack had stopped Phasing years ago by now too. Though they all still acted like a Pack, one by one they'd left wars and weres and leeches behind and settled into the comfort of a normal human family.

But not Bella.

She tied off Sammy's braid and pressed a kiss to his temple

"I'm going to go see if the mail's here," he announced.

Bella nodded and he turned and strode up stairs. He had his father's dexterity and loved models – he was waiting for a new one to come that he'd bought with money he'd so carefully saved.

She watched him go, stopping to check on the fish with a curious finger.

It flopped and splashed in response and he turned and gave Bella one of those mischievous honeycomb smiles.

So much like his father.

She missed Sam so much.

"You doing okay, Bells?" Jacob pulled her under arm as they turned and climbed to the porch. She knew he was being even more rambunctious than usual today to try to get her to smile. She just didn't have it in her.

With a nod, Bella bent down and snatched her tea on the way into the house.

"Malia napping upstairs with the kids?" Jacob guessed as he opened the screen door and held it for her.

Again Bella nodded and took a numb sip of tea as she trailed toward the long wooden table that took up almost the entire kitchen.

But it was different now – just like everything always was each day. A few benches had been replaced, the corners repaired. There were the scuffs of roughhousing mishaps, the remnants of markers and crayons and the general wear and tear of huge supernatural men singularly focused on food.

"Mother."

Bella's eyes snapped up across the room, in instant razor focus. Sammy only called her that when something serious was going on.

"There's a strange man waiting outside," he reported in a voice too confident for his age. His little chin tipped up ever so slightly with the cant of his head –screaming of the lineage he bore. That sharp mind saw every detail already.

"He has scars on his throat… like from a wolf."

The mug dropped from Bella's fingers and shattered on the floor.

"Go upstairs," she hissed, glancing up at Jacob as she quickly crossed the room.

She pulled Sammy's head in for a quick reassuring kiss. "Go. Watch over the little ones with Auntie," she added – it was guaranteed to make him focus.

True to form, Sammy turned and scampered up the stairs to his duty.

"Think we should call someone," Jacob whispered as he followed in her wake.

Bella shook her head tersely. "I'm through with intimidation," she spat.

Bella burst out on the porch and then froze.

She hadn't been prepared for how surreal it would be to see Paul again after an entire decade.

Leaning against a sports car he was dressed in a leather jacket, jeans and one of his best double shot espresso smirks.

Bella quickly recovered – he had no sway on her now.

"Stay here," she told Jacob and stomped down several of the stairs.

"You have _some freaking nerve_ coming here on this day!" Bella bit out.

That smirk turned under in a press of lips and his eyes darted down to the ground between them.

Bella's heart was going a million miles per hour at seeing this man, on this day, in this front yard. But she'd been through several major wars and cared for a Pack that grew faster than wolves aged out. She wouldn't fall apart the first time Paul Lahote swaggered into town. She wasn't the girl she'd used to be.

Bella quickly tried to gather clues.

Like Jacob, he was human now and had been for a while. Aside from considerably less bulk, she could see the little lines and subtle changes to his face. But there were other changes too. The clothes were worn, the car rented. His posture was relaxed and confident – but not arrogant, per se.

In his hands he held a manila envelope.

Bella's gaze darted back up to where he was watching her from under his eyelashes.

He lifted his head while his eyes washed over her. "It's been a while, Bella," he murmured, soft, silky. "And you haven't changed. Still as beautiful-…"

"Oh, believe me, I've changed," she nearly spat. "What do you want."

Paul closed his eyes for a moment. Then he took a breath as he opened them and squared his shoulders.

"I came to give you what I've owed you for a long time," he said quietly, simply. "Closure."

Bella's eyes darted back down to the envelope and then back up into a face that was similar enough in form, but somehow very different.

"I came to ask for your forgiveness," Paul lifted his brow. "And give you the divorce papers."

Bella didn't know what to say – there was no duplicity or resentment or snark.

When she just stared at him like a slack-jawed fool, he drew in a long open-mouthed breath and pushed off the car.

Bella's entire body tensed in response.

It visibly unsettled him. His brow furrowed as he studied her for a second before he closed his eyes and hung his head as if trying to reset.

"Look," he tipped his chin up with unadorned eyes. "I'm not here to make trouble - I'm just here to make things as right as they'll ever be."

Bella swallowed thickly as her hand twisted into the hem of her shirt.

"I never phased again," he told her in a hushed voice, tipping his head almost absently to show her the scars from where Sam had almost ripped his throat out.

"You told me to get help and," he barked a laugh as his eyes flicked up to the sky. "_Eventually_ I listened." He arched a brow, with a wry smile at his own expense. Confident.

Comfortable in his skin.

It was what she'd always seen he could be.

He looked down at the paper in his hands as he fiddled with it nervously for a moment and then shoved behind his back with his clasped hands.

"I left the animal behind," he told her quietly, evenly - like a confession. "All the drinking, cheating, all the bullshit."

He paused, his eyes darting off to the side and she watched his Adam's apple bob with his swallow. Finally with a flick of his lip through his teeth, he looked back up with sincere eyes.

"I'm sorry I treated you like I did," he whispered, voice dragging with emotion. "I was so… so… so," he shook his head. "Fucked up."

He shoved a hand brusquely through his hair. "I'm sorry for what I did to Sam-…"

"What do you want, Paul?" Bella interrupted. He probably needed this – it was part of his therapy or program or whatever. But she didn't want to listen to his stammering confessions or awkward appeals for forgiveness.

Not today. Not ever.

"Nothing," he said quickly. "I don't want anything."

Bella tried to get a hold of herself – she drew in a resetting breath. She'd had experience managing a host of more complicated situations and wolves who were teetering on losing it big time. This was childsplay in comparison.

"Then why did you come," she managed to make it a statement, not challenge.

He sniffed a laugh as he shoved his free hand in the pocket of his jacket with that practiced cool. It'd always told her he was nervous in spite of the smirk and it spoke to her still.

He shrugged a casual shoulder. "I thought I should come and give you these by hand," he murmured with a little shake of the papers in his hand.

Bella pursed her lips. "There's certified mail. Hey, you could've had me _served_," she sniffed breezily as she sauntered down the rest of the stairs. "I happen to know a good sheriff in town."

She wasn't making it easy on him – but when was life easy?

"Why did you come, Paul?" Bella stopped several feet in front of him and folded her hands in front of her.

Paul's mouth popped open but words stalled on his tongue while his gaze washed compulsively over and over her face.

But up close she could see it and she really, really didn't want to: he'd done a lot of work but there were still repressed and unresolved feelings for her that festered behind those eyes. She needed to put an end to this. Now.

So, with the confidence and skill that had bloomed in whatever way was needed by their Pack over the last ten years, she deconstructed him in a nano-second flat.

"You came for _you_," she told him firmly.

The line between compassion and accountability was a razor's edge and Bella had learned to walk it without bleeding out.

"I'm glad you're doing better, I'm proud of you for doing the work," she said calmly, evenly. "But coming to my home… pulling me into your life again so I can make you feel better. So you can just _see_ if anything's still there," she squinted and then drew a breath, settling her shoulders back.

"It's selfish, Paul," she told him flatly, with no emotion coming along for the ride. "And it looks like you've done a hell of a lot of work to try and leave that man behind."

Paul's eyes narrowed with emotion, darting restlessly between hers.

With the softest curve of encouragement to her lips, Bella raised her brow.

Paul's gaze raced across the ground, like he was collecting thoughts that had scattered like a broken string of pearls.

And then he showed her just how much he'd changed.

"You're right," he breathed, returning to her eyes with a candid bewilderment crimping his brow.

"If you came for forgiveness, I figured out how to give that a long time ago," she told him quietly. "I'm not going to spoil my life with bitterness and resentment."

Paul swallowed thickly while he watched her, obviously at an unsettled loss for words.

"I always wanted you to be happy and that hasn't changed," Bella continued, speaking firmly, but using the habitual register for the wolf to soften the sting.

"But Paul, I _never_ want to see you again."

His eyes snapped up to hers from where they'd wandered.

There they stayed for just a heartbeat longer. She could see him searching for what could have been – stringing together a series of whatifs that would only bring him pain in the end.

Then he gave her a curt nod, and his gaze fell to the envelope he held out.

Bella took it with a business-like hand. She didn't need it, of course, but if she were truthful and searched corners of her heart, it had bothered her that she was still bound by a marriage she'd never chosen. It was too much like an imprint.

She'd decided a long time ago that if she bound herself to another man it would be by choice. Not for an agreement or practical arrangement or something that worked out well, but for love.

And she had.

"Are you happy?" Paul asked quietly, shoving his hands in his pockets.

Bella took a step back. He was still unconsciously searching for details… just a little personal sharing to soothe the separation and she wasn't going to give them.

"I want everything I have," she told him curtly, wondering if he even understood the turn of phrase.

"You were right. My art's doing good," he tried. "I've got a show -…"

She didn't want to know his either.

"Good bye, Paul," she cut him off with a cordial smile and then turned on her heel.

That rascal Jacob Black wasn't even trying to hide his shit-eating grin.

As she glared at him while she walked up the path, Paul must have finally acknowledged him. Jacob raised a casual hand with all but the middle finger curved just a little too much for her not to read between the lines.

Bella suppressed her snort but rolled her eyes as she walked with an unhurried gait back up the steps.

Without a pause or glance to her best childhood friend, Bella pulled open the screen while a motor revved outside.

She stalked straight for the kitchen and threw the envelope down on the table.

Then she exploded.

"What the effing hell!" she shrieked just as Jacob made it to the doorway to catch the show. She tried to keep her temper in check - she really did - but really, if there were ever a time it was warranted…

"God! And the bastard knew what today was!" She stomped across the kitchen, petulantly kicking the broken handle of her favorite mug and watching it skitter across the floor. "I mean, has he _ever_ remembered even an effing _birthday_ in his life!?"

Jacob leaned against the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest and a smug little smile on his face. He loved it when she blew… the little jerk.

"So help me, Jacob Black, I'm going to wipe that grin off your face," she threatened, wagging a finger and everything. She didn't need this on top of everything else. "You won't be so freaking smug when-.."

Her words disintegrated into a whooping shriek as she was thrown so high in the air she nearly crested the rafters.

She'd been artfully tossed so she came whizzing down to face her attacker and was caught in strong careful hands that absorbed her fall.

Hands that she loved: patient, tender, loving hands.

"SAM!" she screamed flinging her arms around him as her lips locked onto his like a magnetic seal.

For minutes or hours she didn't know and didn't care she tried to swallow him whole, ravenously soaking up his taste, his scent, the touch of his skin.

He'd been gone almost _three weeks_.

"Is it safe to come down?" a woman's voice came from somewhere in the house.

Bella pulled back breathless, searching his face. Endless inscrutable eyes stared back at her, softened just enough in the corners by his black strap molasses smile. Dark, sticky, sweet it looked delicious poured all over that intensity and made her want to lick it off those broad lips.

With heavy-lidded eyes, Bella leaned in to do just that.

"Depends on your definition," Jacob called over his shoulder with a punky laugh. A little softer he told the kitchen: "Bells, Mal's bringing the kids down."

Freezing with her mouth plastered over her mate's, she took stock of legs brazenly wrapped around his hips, one hand clawing into his shoulder while the other dug fiercely into his long loose hair at the back of his head. Bella was pretty much dry humping their father in the middle of her kitchen.

She pulled back with a gasp that amplified the vacuum and made the kiss pop.

She searched his face, trying to memorize every last pore –with a kind of desperation. This was the longest they'd ever been apart and coupled with the day and Paul's visit, truthfully she was feeling a little bit traumatized.

Sam waited patiently to see what she would do, watching her with eyes were their same starless midnight, composed and calm and filled with love. He kicked up a sultry brow that perfectly embellished his half smile while his hands smoothed with lazy relish over her bottom. It was up to her: the man would be content to follow her lead while the wolf would gladly take her right now on their table no matter who was watching.

Pulling her lip into her mouth, Bella's gaze did another feverish circuit of his face while she smoothed the hair she'd mussed. She wiggled her request to get down, but his hands held her fast, making her eyes dart up to his again.

"Missed you alot," he breathed slowly, his lips caressing the words. His eyes spoke volumes more and held her as he leaned in to rub his jaw over hers, savoring and sensual.

Bella's eyes fluttered closed while she luxuriated in the prickle and silk of his skin, his scent, that soft contented purr that she'd been ignoring but had been percolating in his chest the whole time.

She could feel him lowering her to the floor and she unclasped her ankles and let her feet slip to the floor, all while he nuzzled and snuffled and hummed his contentment in her hair.

Then with a butt of his nose to her temple, he straightened. Her eyelids fluttered open to dark eyes watching her with promises of more. Soon.

His thumb flicked her chin and then he swept those imperious eyes over the others in the room who had respectfully waited.

Bella turned to see Sammy standing beside Jacob in the doorway, holding his little brother Charlie's hand.

"Papa!" the little one was squealing, marching in place while his brother held him in back.

Sammy's eyes were locked silently on his father, waiting for his cue.

She never let them see the sexual side of their relationship, of course (the reason they were being shipped off for sleepovers for the weekend), but she didn't mind them witnessing the lupine affection between mates – she hoped it modeled behavior that would help them channel all that primal passion.

When the time came.

Because it would. As the Pack grew, society changed and vampires became more prevalent, Sam had decided to keep Phasing as long as he needed to lead them – and help his son take the reins.

It was hard for a mother to make peace with that fact, but it was part of her duty being the best friend and mate to a man who still understood the wolf better. He and their children had a legacy that even stretched beyond their tribe: Sam was becoming a leader who was respected and known far beyond these borders. These last three weeks he'd been in Canada with a tribe who was seeing a resurgence in their own shapeshifting gene.

At some cue she didn't catch, Charlie was released and, like a horse out of a gate, he charged pell-mell toward his father with an ear-piercing shriek of glee.

Sam reached down and caught him mid stride, tossing him high up in the air to his fearless laughter and then catching him in his casual arms.

"Papa! You were gone long time!" he exclaimed as he hugged his father's neck with complete abandon.

Sam's big hand stroked over the child's butterscotch hair while his eyes found his oldest, waiting for the right time like he so naturally did.

Sam held out a silent hand and the boy strode toward him, visibly squaring his shoulders and jaw. He was at that age when he copied his father in everything. But it was natural. As he always did, Sam gave him the space and neutrality to be whoever he wanted to be, but they were just so much alike in many ways.

Sam guided him gently while Bella followed his lead. They each took care of different parts of their children and respected one another for it. She knew that Sam was the only one who could teach them both how to be a wolf and a man, while she took warm loving care of their hearts and minds. No matter how much she wanted to jump in and appease or mother-hen protect them, she always held her tongue.

It wasn't hard – she and Sam respected each other in all things.

Sam pulled his oldest into his side. For a long moment he just held each boy while he bowed his head and softly closed his eyes like he was meditating. Sam took each moment as it came and some of them needed to be cherished - like this one. He drew in a long slow breath while Charlie tried to tug in his chin up toward him, babbling and trying to get his attention.

Then with a slow audible exhale he finally turned to the child, a brow cocked over his amusement.

"Patience, cub." A deep fleecy chuckle bounced under the words as he jostled the child.

Undaunted, Charlie threw his arms around Sam's big head and placed an indiscriminate slobbery toddler kiss somewhere in the vicinity of his cheek and eye.

"Charlie!" Bella stepped in to save him.

Sam squinted and blinked at the slobber as she pulled the child away. With a soft laugh, she pulled her shirt over the heel of her hand and reached up to wipe it off for him. His eyes met hers for a shared moment of amusement before he turned to his oldest.

Bella watched over her shoulder as he sat down on the bench, pulling Sammy around in front of him.

Malia was grinning beside her husband with her five year old leaning back against her front under her folded hands.

"Sarah, are you sure you're down for a sleep-over with this little guy?" she asked the rhetorical question with a humorous squint.

She nodded enthusiastically. Charlie was like her live baby doll – Malia and Jake had decided to stop at three and she was the youngest.

Sam and Bella had purposely waited a while before conceiving Charlie. With wars, healing, and the time it took to cherish each other and groom the next in line to lead the Pack, five years had been the right time.

There were other sons of Ephraim's line to step up if Sammy had chosen a different path (and still could) but at the tender age of three, even a fool could see he'd been born to the job.

Just like Sam.

Bella turned back to where Sam was seated on a bench, arms braced on his thighs while he listened intently to his son, standing before him, serious and erect.

Malia graciously took the younger ones upstairs to pack, while she took a few steps closer to hear what they were talking about.

She was pretty sure she knew.

"You handled it well," Sam told him in that warm velvet bass. "But you and your mother were always safe – we were watching."

His eyes flicked up to Bella's meaningfully before returning to his son.

She suspected that he had wolves watching their house while he was away, but he'd made it clear that Pack safety was his responsibility. And Bella trusted him to do that as he saw fit.

"Why, Papa?" Sammy asked him.

"Because I left your mother unguarded once and she was hurt," he told him simply. "It's inexcusable to make the same mistake twice."

His son nodded once. "Yes."

With the briefest glance Bella's way, Sam arched a brow as he canted his head. "But what else?" he murmured.

"Sometimes it happens," Sammy recited, squaring his chin with pride. "And if you don't forgive yourself it will happen again."

Sam's face stretched in a slow smile for his son. "Come."

He sat up and Sammy stepped into his father's arms. He pulled the boy's cheek to his shoulder for a long and tender embrace. Sometimes words meant nothing.

"I saw the fish," he murmured, stroking over his son's head and then pulling back, leaving his arms wrapped loosely around the boy.

Sammy nodded. "Uncle Jay said it's big enough to eat," he told him brightly – eerily switching back to being a few months shy of ten.

"Uncle Jay's taking it with him," Bella stepped in with a bland look over her shoulder at her childhood friend.

"Mom said Uncle Jay's got to clean it," he reported. "He's bartering for pie."

Sam's unreadable eyes swept the room, first to Bella then out to Jacob.

He returned his attention to his son. "You and Cody can clean it after his game," he told him, in a midnight bass. "If you decide to take a life, you must be strong enough to see it through yourself."

Bella bit into her lip to hold her tongue. This kind of thing was where it was so hard for a mother – to watch her son be prepared to kill…

But it was reality and the fate that her mate and her son had been born into.

"You need to decide if you're ready," Sam intoned with the neutrality that actually gave him the space to do it. "Sometimes the right choice is to let your prey go."

It was subtle, but Bella saw the tick of muscles on each side of his nose – a suppressed flash of lupine displeasure. No matter how much the man grew and learned, the animal lived in him still.

And _this_ was the reason why Bella could bear to watch her son be groomed for war: the biggest one he'd ever fight would be with himself.

"I'll think about it." Sammy nodded soberly as his father sat back, brushing his knuckles over the child's face on the way.

"We'll still take it with us," Jacob stepped in with a wink for Bella and his usual undaunted sun. "Glad you're back, Cuz," he offered his hand.

Sam stood and the two cousins clasped forearms for a moment. "Thank you," he said quietly with just the minutest tip of his chin in Bella's direction.

The all shared the load with each other and Jacob and Malia had been awesome while he'd been away – helping with the kids, keeping her company.

Especially today.

While she watched their two children prepare for overnights to give them some adult time - somewhere between Embry and Jacob's house, they were utterly interchangeable for all of their kids – Bella gobbled every last drop of the mundane down.

It was an antidote that she couldn't get enough of – she'd never forget the night her mate had come so close to leaving her. In fact he had. He'd been lifeless in her arms for what seemed like lifetimes, until Sue had gotten there and he'd fought his way back.

Sam was a warrior in all things... and he never broke his word.

With wars and leeches and violence and wolves, all of the Pack had been through trauma at one time or another. The way survived it was to lean on each other as a Pack. But this was different. She knew perhaps some of her friends didn't understand – all's well that ends well, right?

But holding this man she loved in her arms, battered and mutilated. Without breath. Without heartbeat. Without hope. Bella had stared death in the face and wandered the barren landscape of despair.

She would never be the same.

Nor did she want to be. What she'd endured over her marriage and after – it had made her strong enough to stand at Sam's side. As far as she could tell, change was painful every single time.

So every year on this day, she allowed herself to remember, so she could also remember the rest. To appreciate each breath, each day, each heartbeat and to cherish each minute she had with this man.

Bella took each moment as it came.

Sam understood.

"It's over," he whispered as his arms wrapped around her and pulled her back against his chest.

Bella nodded silently while she watched the car pull out of the front yard from the porch. Jacob beeped and she raised a hand to her son, watching them so seriously out the window.

She thought Sammy just might understand too.

Without warning suddenly she was being lifted in strong arms. A giggle broke free as Sam settled her against his chest bridal style, and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

He leaned down and drew in a breath at her temple, humming with pleasure as he absently opened the screen and carried her into the house.

Closing her eyes in bliss, Bella leaned her cheek against his shoulder as he walked slowly back to the kitchen.

"I can't believe you could watch," Bella smiled, leaving her eyes closed and enjoying the liquid sway of his gait.

She knew the wolf still wanted to kill Paul with a vengeance. In fact, until today she hadn't been a hundred percent sure that Sam hadn't tracked him down and done just that.

"You needed to do it yourself," he whispered.

Bella's eyes popped open to that stoic face. He was right – it had made her feel strong. Strangely it had given her closure too. Being confronted by the demons of her past and not falling to pieces just confirmed that she wasn't that girl who'd traded self-respect and confidence for abuse and helplessness.

And even though he'd probably burned alive inside, he'd stood back and respected her enough to give her what she needed.

But Sam was a warrior in all things. She had no doubt he'd fight to the death for her… even if it was against himself.

God, she loved this man.

She reached up her hand and ghosted her middle finger down his profile.

When she reached his mouth his lips pursed with a kiss before stretching into a wry and feral smile. Sam cut his eyes down at her. "I did however send Toby and Joe after him to follow up your request with a little encouragement."

His eyes returned to his destination without waiting for her reaction.

Bella sniffed a laugh (that was a little too gratified) while she pulled a corner of her lip into her mouth - at least he hadn't done it himself. Paul would probably live.

Then she was being set down on their kitchen table. She'd always thought Sam had crafted it a little high because shapeshifters were so huge, until she discovered that it was actually the perfect height for other things.

Everything Sam Uley did was strategic.

Holding her gaze with smoldering coal, he stepped between her knees. Without a word or second's hesitation, he ripped her dress up the front, somehow ridding her of her panties too as he pushed the offending cloth off her skin.

She smiled, pulled him hungrily down and he rubbed his cheek over her stomach and then up between her breasts while a low purr of pleasure vibrated in his chest. She arched under him as his mouth took a nipple and her hands tangled encouragingly in his hair.

"Are you ready for another," he breathed, placing kisses over her collarbone on his way to his mark proudly sitting at the apex of her shoulder and neck.

"Yes," she gasped as he connected each of the four canine points with his tongue. Sparks lit like fireworks behind her eyes.

Bella wanted at least another two children and she certainly had time. Bound body and soul to the Alpha of the Pack she aged with him – which was not at all until he stopped phasing. Sam gave her the space to decide, but she knew he wanted as many as she'd give him...

"Good," he dragged the croon over her skin as brushed his nose up her pulse. "Because, you're already pregnant," he whispered and then marked her neck with his mouth.

Bella made an innovative sound somewhere between a laugh and groan as she tipped her head to the side to give him better purchase.

"What would you had done if I'd said no?" she chuckled breathlessly.

"Mm," he hummed over the tendon on the side of her neck. She could feel his smile against her skin. "I can be very persuasive," he breathed and then smothered his mark with a hungry mouth, suckling and massaging it with his teeth.

His mark was like a direct connect to her sensual nervous system - Bella nearly came on the spot. "S-Sam," she begged, fingers curling into his sides while her heels desperately tried to pull his hips closer.

With a dark chocolate chuckle of pure devilry he pulled back, eyes backlit by that feral fire but set in a face where human love plainly reigned. Bella's breath caught in her throat. How was it possible to love him this much? Every day it seemed to impossibly grow.

She wasn't sure how long she got stuck – drowning in his eyes and awe while remnant sparks and shivers tingled down all the way to her toes. Always patient, Sam stared right back with that sentimental smile softening broad lips that she could seriously look at all day.

Finally he shifted over her and cocked his head – a crisp feral movement. "You okay?" he whispered.

Bella bit her lip and nodded silently, but her hands wrapped as far as they could around his broad back. Just holding him. Tightly. In her arms.

On this day.

"You know with these papers," he whispered with a raise of his brow. "We could make our agreement official."

Bella blinked back into the present and her eyes darted between his, searching for clues.

She found it in that minute flare of his nostril. If wolves were anything, they were territorial – it had bothered him too.

"You've always had everything," Bella whispered, letting him know that no matter what fates or gods or pieces of paper had to say, she was his. "Plus it already is where it counts."

And that was also true – their relationship was recognized by Pack and Council and they'd had a ceremony in front of the Tribe (and her parents). And then there was the mark – it was as indelible and finite as bindings came.

He wrinkled his nose feigning the excuse of a wayward strand of hair – a suspiciously lupine-esque expression.

Bella smiled softly and wiggled a hand up so she could tuck his prop behind his ear. The humor faded from her lips as her fingers lingered, tracing his brow, ghosting down over his cheekbone, skimming over his shadow of stubble.

"What do you want?" she asked quietly.

Her eyes returned to his and found them watching. As usual.

But then a slow smile poured over his lips, sensual and lush and an oasis in all that intensity. "You can't say you don't know what I want, Bella," he whispered.

He shifted over her and one of his hands left its post beside her head to _finally_ work over that button fly.

"Then why are you asking?" she hitched her lips up coyly. "Marriage isn't an Alpha's Prerogative too?"

They words were light banter, but they obviously did something to him.

He dipped down and drizzled dark chocolate kisses over her lips while that low rumble rippled like a shiver down her body.

"It is indeed," he breathed into her mouth.

And then he flipped her over.

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_Review if you like._

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